Back in the day (circa 2003 or 2004) I was an avid visitor to the Liquid Generation website when they were hosting such hilarious running features such as "Masterpiece Movie Reviews" with Professor Butterhands. Sadly, the movie review running feature was preemptively squandered and the hilariously animated Butterhands character along with it. I am unable to find any of the classic videos online anywhere, so I cannot show you a funny excerpt or two.
However, it has been quite a few years since the last time that I had gone on a little trip to the Liquid Generation website. Thanks to the random blog posting over at Reel Artsy there is a new video that was created by Liquid Generation that I wanted to share with you. It contains one hundred famous movie lines all crammed into a two hundred second video clip. Have fun with counting up the number of quotes that you can recognize on the fly as the video plays out.
There is one particular movie quote that made it into the video that has been often quoted around the office at my work. "For-ev-er!" It can be seen briefly in the black and white close up shot of the guy with the glasses and the mustache. It bothered me for quite awhile in trying to remember where the movie quote originated from, and completely forget it was from the film The Sandlot (1993). Duh! Well, thanks you the power and convenience of the Internet we are able to isolate that movie quote to a single video clip on YouTube and have it set to a continuous loop. For-ev-er!
On an end note, I would be highly appreciative if there is anyone who could successfully track down a couple of high quality video files on the Professor Butterhands reviews. That would be an awesome collection to have access to watch over again.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
"Star Wars" turns 32
A long time ago (on May 25, 1977) in a galaxy far, far away (known as Los Angeles, California) there was a little known science fiction film that had premiered to the general American public that altered the course of science fiction filmmaking in such a way that no one could have ever guessed.
At the time that it was released it had a simple title: Star Wars. Since then the official name of the film has been extended to Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope. What makes the film so special is the revolutionary special effects that were utterly amazing for the viewer to see on the giant silver screen, not to mention the cool sound effects, a spectacular musical soundtrack, and a collection of memorable characters. Okay, I am aware that prior to 1977 there were a couple of memorable science fiction and fantasy films that are just as cool and amazing as this one. Two particular note worthy films would be Planet of the Apes (1968) and 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
Fan clubs have been created in honor of the film. An endless supply of satirical comedies have spoofed the film's storyline (thank you Mel Brooks and Robot Chicken, among several others). In fact, I thought it would be fitting to offer a "blooper" reel to display here, compliments of Robot Chicken.
In short, I would like to give a Happy Birthday shout out to the film that not only guaranteed a career for George Lucas, thrilling I know, but jump started a film genre that might have been stuck in the b-movie category forever. I would recommend reading the blog article over on the AMC website that was written by their science fiction columnist, John Scalzi: SciFi Movies Made Money Before Star Wars, Too. In all fairness, I think it would be appropriate to break out a copy of the film and watch it tonight!
At the time that it was released it had a simple title: Star Wars. Since then the official name of the film has been extended to Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope. What makes the film so special is the revolutionary special effects that were utterly amazing for the viewer to see on the giant silver screen, not to mention the cool sound effects, a spectacular musical soundtrack, and a collection of memorable characters. Okay, I am aware that prior to 1977 there were a couple of memorable science fiction and fantasy films that are just as cool and amazing as this one. Two particular note worthy films would be Planet of the Apes (1968) and 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).Fan clubs have been created in honor of the film. An endless supply of satirical comedies have spoofed the film's storyline (thank you Mel Brooks and Robot Chicken, among several others). In fact, I thought it would be fitting to offer a "blooper" reel to display here, compliments of Robot Chicken.
Robot Chicken: Star Wars bloopers
Trouble viewing the video? Click here.
In short, I would like to give a Happy Birthday shout out to the film that not only guaranteed a career for George Lucas, thrilling I know, but jump started a film genre that might have been stuck in the b-movie category forever. I would recommend reading the blog article over on the AMC website that was written by their science fiction columnist, John Scalzi: SciFi Movies Made Money Before Star Wars, Too. In all fairness, I think it would be appropriate to break out a copy of the film and watch it tonight!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)
How often does a documentary film arrive on the scene, receive an Academy Award for best feature documentary, and inspire a docudrama of its story nearly twenty-five years later? The Times of Harvey Milk (1984) has accomplished such a feat in an impactful way by focusing upon its historical subject matter of a local San Francisco politician by the name of Harvey Milk.
According to his review of the film, Roger Ebert mentions that The Times has been presented with a biased viewpoint. The particularly biased stance is apparent, according to his claim, since it does not include a single interview from any of the members of the sitting jury who had sentenced Harvey Milk’s murderer with a lenient punishment of five years in jail (source). This particular statement in Ebert’s review may possibly strike its reader as a catalyst that might turn the film into a perceived falsity as a truthful document of events. Despite the lack of an interview with any of the former members of the jury may not be a relevant issue for the film’s approach to its topic.
The director of the documentary, Rob Epstein, mentioned in a short essay that he wanted to focus upon Harvey Milk’s rise to a position on the board of supervisors, as well as his campaign against Proposition 6 (of 1978). However, during the process of researching the material about the campaign against the proposition his focus was drawn more to Harvey Milk. In Epstein’s viewpoint, Harvey was a person with a unique talent for publicity and good humor. His focus was quickly drawn away from the events of the campaign and toward the career of an iconic political figure (source). Harvey Milk’s eleven months in office has not only marked a turning point in American politics, but his premature death has created waves in the realm of equal civil rights throughout the country.
Epstein admits that when he began pulling the film together "the challenge became how to make a film with the immediacy of cinéma vérité, but one that is told in retrospect." (source). The final cut of the film includes several interviews that were accumulated from newsreel footage filmed by local television stations, along with the retrospective interviews that he had filmed throughout the years after Harvey’s death. Each one of the people that Epstein had interviewed was someone who had either personally knew Milk at one point during his career, such as his campaign manager (Anne Kronenberg), if not directly affected by his work in political office as a district supervisor.
With a viewing of the final cut of The Times, there are a few bits and pieces of the cinéma vérité movement available in the film, as was originally intended by Epstein. The only relevant material within the picture that signifies the importance of the viewer experiencing the story first hand would be the newsreel footage from the local television stations. An emotionally stirring case-in-point would be the raw footage from the press conference that depicts an emotionally shaken local politician Dianne Feinstein as she is standing in front of a slew of microphones to report the death of Mayor George Moscone and district supervisor Harvey Milk.
As an addendum to any missing pieces of information not fortuitously told in the interviews or with the newsreel footage, there are few sections of spoken narration, voiced by actor Harvey Fierstein, to fill in the gaps. At the start of the film, Harvey Fierstein’s voice introduces the audience to the story of Harvey Milk by informing them of his death and of the last will and testament that was recorded on to an audio tape the year before. However, with the combination of the newsreel footage, photographs, and film footage that Epstein had shot the viewer is truly transported to the last year of Milk’s life. The viewer would never have been as familiar with Dan White if they were not exposed to the detailed television news interview in which he overtly recommends a game of softball between his district and Milk’s district as a way to settle political debates. Despite the large supply of footage and interviews that were seen in the final cut of the documentary, some interviews were not included. Milk’s lover, Scott Smith, appears as a minor figure toward the start of the film, but director Rob Epstein had a film reel of an interview with Smith that was just never included (source).
In order to use the interviews that were shot by Epstein effectively in the structure of the film, he had to rely on using the stories told by the interviewed subjects as the primary source of narration while using flashbacks to the archive footage and photographs that has eloquently been described so far. Three people who were interviewed in the documentary have served as a strong contribution to the story’s center point of narration: Anne Kronenberg (campaign manager), Tom Ammiano (a homosexual schoolteacher), Tory Hartmann (political consultant), and Jim Elliot (heterosexual unionized auto machinist).
Within each of the interviews, the people were describing their own personal accounts of the events that unfolded during the course of Harvey’s political career and personal life the words are highlighted with newspaper headlines, photographs, and film footage from numerous different sources to punctuate the validity of the events that had unfolded. Each person has a completely different life experience associated with Harvey Milk.
Some of the most intriguing material that was utilized in the documentary was the television news packages that have served the purpose of historical chronicler of events and casual social observer of the community. One particular news package was produced shortly after Dan White had murdered his fellow council members in whom a few of his neighbors were interviewed by news reporter George Dusheck about his behavior. “He was an all American boy as far as I was concerned,” says neighbor A.V. Cook. The package dares to consider the question of explaining how an average white American person from a middle class neighborhood would dare commit such a heinous crime. Moreover, with newsreel footage such as the one that has just been described, the viewer is presented with the little extra punctuation on the story that would hold the same weight as the words spoken during a retrospective interview.
EDITOR'S POSTSCRIPT:
Shortly after publishing this essay to the Matte Havoc site I had received an e-mail from Jerry Pritikin, who is a gay rights activist and retired freelance photographer. Here is the copy of the e-mail that I have read:
According to his review of the film, Roger Ebert mentions that The Times has been presented with a biased viewpoint. The particularly biased stance is apparent, according to his claim, since it does not include a single interview from any of the members of the sitting jury who had sentenced Harvey Milk’s murderer with a lenient punishment of five years in jail (source). This particular statement in Ebert’s review may possibly strike its reader as a catalyst that might turn the film into a perceived falsity as a truthful document of events. Despite the lack of an interview with any of the former members of the jury may not be a relevant issue for the film’s approach to its topic.The director of the documentary, Rob Epstein, mentioned in a short essay that he wanted to focus upon Harvey Milk’s rise to a position on the board of supervisors, as well as his campaign against Proposition 6 (of 1978). However, during the process of researching the material about the campaign against the proposition his focus was drawn more to Harvey Milk. In Epstein’s viewpoint, Harvey was a person with a unique talent for publicity and good humor. His focus was quickly drawn away from the events of the campaign and toward the career of an iconic political figure (source). Harvey Milk’s eleven months in office has not only marked a turning point in American politics, but his premature death has created waves in the realm of equal civil rights throughout the country.
Epstein admits that when he began pulling the film together "the challenge became how to make a film with the immediacy of cinéma vérité, but one that is told in retrospect." (source). The final cut of the film includes several interviews that were accumulated from newsreel footage filmed by local television stations, along with the retrospective interviews that he had filmed throughout the years after Harvey’s death. Each one of the people that Epstein had interviewed was someone who had either personally knew Milk at one point during his career, such as his campaign manager (Anne Kronenberg), if not directly affected by his work in political office as a district supervisor.
With a viewing of the final cut of The Times, there are a few bits and pieces of the cinéma vérité movement available in the film, as was originally intended by Epstein. The only relevant material within the picture that signifies the importance of the viewer experiencing the story first hand would be the newsreel footage from the local television stations. An emotionally stirring case-in-point would be the raw footage from the press conference that depicts an emotionally shaken local politician Dianne Feinstein as she is standing in front of a slew of microphones to report the death of Mayor George Moscone and district supervisor Harvey Milk.
As an addendum to any missing pieces of information not fortuitously told in the interviews or with the newsreel footage, there are few sections of spoken narration, voiced by actor Harvey Fierstein, to fill in the gaps. At the start of the film, Harvey Fierstein’s voice introduces the audience to the story of Harvey Milk by informing them of his death and of the last will and testament that was recorded on to an audio tape the year before. However, with the combination of the newsreel footage, photographs, and film footage that Epstein had shot the viewer is truly transported to the last year of Milk’s life. The viewer would never have been as familiar with Dan White if they were not exposed to the detailed television news interview in which he overtly recommends a game of softball between his district and Milk’s district as a way to settle political debates. Despite the large supply of footage and interviews that were seen in the final cut of the documentary, some interviews were not included. Milk’s lover, Scott Smith, appears as a minor figure toward the start of the film, but director Rob Epstein had a film reel of an interview with Smith that was just never included (source).
In order to use the interviews that were shot by Epstein effectively in the structure of the film, he had to rely on using the stories told by the interviewed subjects as the primary source of narration while using flashbacks to the archive footage and photographs that has eloquently been described so far. Three people who were interviewed in the documentary have served as a strong contribution to the story’s center point of narration: Anne Kronenberg (campaign manager), Tom Ammiano (a homosexual schoolteacher), Tory Hartmann (political consultant), and Jim Elliot (heterosexual unionized auto machinist).
Within each of the interviews, the people were describing their own personal accounts of the events that unfolded during the course of Harvey’s political career and personal life the words are highlighted with newspaper headlines, photographs, and film footage from numerous different sources to punctuate the validity of the events that had unfolded. Each person has a completely different life experience associated with Harvey Milk.
Some of the most intriguing material that was utilized in the documentary was the television news packages that have served the purpose of historical chronicler of events and casual social observer of the community. One particular news package was produced shortly after Dan White had murdered his fellow council members in whom a few of his neighbors were interviewed by news reporter George Dusheck about his behavior. “He was an all American boy as far as I was concerned,” says neighbor A.V. Cook. The package dares to consider the question of explaining how an average white American person from a middle class neighborhood would dare commit such a heinous crime. Moreover, with newsreel footage such as the one that has just been described, the viewer is presented with the little extra punctuation on the story that would hold the same weight as the words spoken during a retrospective interview.
EDITOR'S POSTSCRIPT:
Shortly after publishing this essay to the Matte Havoc site I had received an e-mail from Jerry Pritikin, who is a gay rights activist and retired freelance photographer. Here is the copy of the e-mail that I have read:
I was disappointed that I was not asked about my images of Harvey, and those times. I was an openly gay man who outed myself nationally in May of 1977, when I created the "ANITA BRYANT'S HUSBAND IS A HOMO SAPIEN!" T-Shirt. Several weeks later, my image taken on 6/7/77 of Harvey Milk t an impromptu march in response to Anita Bryant's led vote to overturn a gay rights ordinance in Dade County, Florida. Associated Press used it on their wire service... and introduced Harvey nationally as a gay spokesperson 5 months before he was elected as the country's first openly gay male politician. That image is featured in other documentaries, and Randy Shilts "THE MAYOR OF CASTRO STREET" and other books. My footnote to gay history see [this page]. That site, "The Castro," is a truer version of those times than the documentary. If you have time visit my blog [jerrypritikin.blogspot.com].
Cheers, Jerry Pritikin.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
How It Should Have Ended
Have you ever walked out of a movie theater all bummed out because the movie that you just watched did not end to your own satisfaction? Usually for someone like myself there is a grumble or two about a waste of time and money after watching a lame movie that I did not enjoy. However, for those of us who think that we can out produce any Hollywood directing schmuck may want to have a good look at a new YouTube channel that I stumbled across just a few minutes ago. (So, sue me for touting the marketing horn for YouTube so much lately!)
The video group is called How It Should Have Ended (the website and the YouTube channel) and one of their video clips was sent to my as a recommendation from YouTube. It's an alternate ending to a particular installment from one of my favorite comedy trilogies films of all time.
Of course, the comedy does not end with poking fun at Johnny Depp, because they also go after Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (click here to watch), Underworld (click here to watch), and Star Wars [Episode 4] (click here to watch).
The video group is called How It Should Have Ended (the website and the YouTube channel) and one of their video clips was sent to my as a recommendation from YouTube. It's an alternate ending to a particular installment from one of my favorite comedy trilogies films of all time.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Problems seeing the video? Click here.
Of course, the comedy does not end with poking fun at Johnny Depp, because they also go after Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (click here to watch), Underworld (click here to watch), and Star Wars [Episode 4] (click here to watch).
Monday, May 18, 2009
Rollerball in Real Life
Some of the youngsters out there in Internet Land may not remember a little known 1970s film starring James Caan called Rollerball (1975). However, there just might be a chance that they will remember the 2002 remake film starring Chris Klein and LL Cool J. If you are unsure about remembering either of the two movies, then check out the trailer for the original film.
The film looks cheesy, I know, but the history of the game is actually rooted in our own American culture since the 1930s. The real life sport is referred to as roller derby, and the resemblance of the sport is clearly apparent in the two films. If anyone out there is interested with reading on a quick brush up of the history of the sport, then I would recommend visiting an interesting four-part newspaper series that was written by Joe Blenkle back in 1991 for a local Sacramento weekly newspaper. The four articles can be read here: Part One, Two, Three, and Four.
On a more recent note regarding the current events of roller derby, I had stumbled across an article that was published on CNN website on May 18, 2009. The article was written about an east coast woman who has joined a woman's league for the health benefits of staying in shape (click here for the article). In addition, back in February 2009, the local San Diego CBS television affiliate aired a package about their resident roller derby league (see below).
The sport can be tough on the body like any other high intensity sport, but it can be an adrenaline rush for every player. I had heard about the local San Diego woman's league from a former co-worker of mine who plays for the Derby Dolls (she goes by the moniker Shiva Mi Timbers). Sadly, I have been unable to attend any of the games since it never seems to comfortably fit into my crazy work schedule. Bah humbug! If you would like more information about San Diego's woman's league I would suggest visiting the Derby Dolls website. There is also a very lengthy list on Wikipedia, found here, of active leagues throughout the United States and Canada.
If attending a game is out of the question, then there is the opportunity to catch any of the following films and documentaries about the sport. The list of films are recommended by the Skate Log website.
Rollerball (1975) trailer.
Trouble viewing the video? Click here.
The film looks cheesy, I know, but the history of the game is actually rooted in our own American culture since the 1930s. The real life sport is referred to as roller derby, and the resemblance of the sport is clearly apparent in the two films. If anyone out there is interested with reading on a quick brush up of the history of the sport, then I would recommend visiting an interesting four-part newspaper series that was written by Joe Blenkle back in 1991 for a local Sacramento weekly newspaper. The four articles can be read here: Part One, Two, Three, and Four.
On a more recent note regarding the current events of roller derby, I had stumbled across an article that was published on CNN website on May 18, 2009. The article was written about an east coast woman who has joined a woman's league for the health benefits of staying in shape (click here for the article). In addition, back in February 2009, the local San Diego CBS television affiliate aired a package about their resident roller derby league (see below).
San Diego Roller Derby on KFMB-TV (CBS 8).
Trouble viewing the video? Click here.
The sport can be tough on the body like any other high intensity sport, but it can be an adrenaline rush for every player. I had heard about the local San Diego woman's league from a former co-worker of mine who plays for the Derby Dolls (she goes by the moniker Shiva Mi Timbers). Sadly, I have been unable to attend any of the games since it never seems to comfortably fit into my crazy work schedule. Bah humbug! If you would like more information about San Diego's woman's league I would suggest visiting the Derby Dolls website. There is also a very lengthy list on Wikipedia, found here, of active leagues throughout the United States and Canada.
If attending a game is out of the question, then there is the opportunity to catch any of the following films and documentaries about the sport. The list of films are recommended by the Skate Log website.
- Unholy Rollers (1972). IMDb page.
- The Fireball (1950). IMDb page.
- Kansas City Bomber (1972).
- Roller Derby Mania (1986).
Whip It! movie trailer.
Trouble viewing the video? Click here.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Nuit et brouillard (1955)
The 1955 film Nuit et brouillard (Night and Fog) is a short documentary film (a hair over thirty minutes in length) that serves as a reminder for the viewer about the horrific genocide that occurred in the concentration camps that were built during World War II. Using archive footage from the war, post-war footage (circa 1954), and photographs, along with the use of music and descriptively written narration, the viewer is able to perceive the events during and after the war through the perspective of an unseen narrator.
What is appealing about the film is how the mood is set by the tone of the music that is played and the information is relayed by the descriptions spoken by the narrator. During the first three minutes of the film, the music is building a momentum with a drumming tempo that sets a worrisome tempo as the narrator is describing the deserted campsites. With a quick drum rattle that is reminiscent of a war drum the viewer is thrust into the midst of Hitler’s arrival in Nuremburg, Germany as thousands of his supporters are thrilled to bear witness to momentous occasion. The music’s building momentum has served as an audible transition from the footage of the post-war era to the start of World War II.
The music sets a tense mood for the viewer with the use harp strings being plucked, the higher notes being played on a viola, and accented with an occasional snare drum rattle. The music alters the viewer’s perception of the situation by invoking the sense of tension in lieu of the joyous celebration that many German citizens were feeling during the original Nuremburg convention.
The same tense feeling is experienced by the viewer a few minutes later during scene when several Jewish families are deported on trains and transported to the campgrounds. The music underscores the situation with a dramatic effect with the use of several instruments that can hit low octaves with a somber melody. Very little is spoken during these moments for the music is defining the mood very well, while the narration is intended as a tool to fill in the information that cannot be portrayed with the use of music or film.
The film has been embedded below for anyone to view, but I must offer a warning that some of the archive footage is rather disturbing to watch. Pay attention to the intriguing use of sound editing, musical composition, and written narration that evokes the imagination of the viewer.
To find out more information about the film please visit the IMDb.com details page or purchase the Criterion Collection DVD from the Matte Havoc entertainment store.
What is appealing about the film is how the mood is set by the tone of the music that is played and the information is relayed by the descriptions spoken by the narrator. During the first three minutes of the film, the music is building a momentum with a drumming tempo that sets a worrisome tempo as the narrator is describing the deserted campsites. With a quick drum rattle that is reminiscent of a war drum the viewer is thrust into the midst of Hitler’s arrival in Nuremburg, Germany as thousands of his supporters are thrilled to bear witness to momentous occasion. The music’s building momentum has served as an audible transition from the footage of the post-war era to the start of World War II.
The music sets a tense mood for the viewer with the use harp strings being plucked, the higher notes being played on a viola, and accented with an occasional snare drum rattle. The music alters the viewer’s perception of the situation by invoking the sense of tension in lieu of the joyous celebration that many German citizens were feeling during the original Nuremburg convention.
The same tense feeling is experienced by the viewer a few minutes later during scene when several Jewish families are deported on trains and transported to the campgrounds. The music underscores the situation with a dramatic effect with the use of several instruments that can hit low octaves with a somber melody. Very little is spoken during these moments for the music is defining the mood very well, while the narration is intended as a tool to fill in the information that cannot be portrayed with the use of music or film.
The film has been embedded below for anyone to view, but I must offer a warning that some of the archive footage is rather disturbing to watch. Pay attention to the intriguing use of sound editing, musical composition, and written narration that evokes the imagination of the viewer.
To find out more information about the film please visit the IMDb.com details page or purchase the Criterion Collection DVD from the Matte Havoc entertainment store.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Script Girl's Update: 5/8/09
Here is your Script Girl video news update for May 8, 2009. It includes a satirical rendition of the new Star Trek film from the director J.J. Abrams.
If you are having problems viewing the video you can visit the original YouTube page for it by clicking here.
If you are having problems viewing the video you can visit the original YouTube page for it by clicking here.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Ten Favorite Movie Characters (meme)
What is a meme? I honestly did not know the definition of the term as I noticed a repeating pattern of e-mails and posts from other bloggers. Some of these particular e-mails and posts have mentioned that Matte Havoc has been officially tagged by them in their chain letter of sorts. After a brief internet search, I discovered the true meaning of the term and thought I should reread the last tag that was sent to me. If you are not quite sure what the term means you might want to check out the dictionary definition.
With the theme of choosing ten favorite movie characters, I was rather intrigued by the whole idea of this one particular "meme" chain letter. Usually I avoid chain letters, and so I had ignored several of the e-mails and tags that were sent in my direction. Until recently, I began thinking that it would be rude of me to ignore this last tag of sorts without really looking into it a tiny bit. After viewing the post over at Napier's News, the blog site who recently tagged me, I thought it should be a fun exercise to list ten of my favorite cinematic characters. The most challenging portion of this exercise will be to tag five other blog sites that have not already been tagged. Anyway, here are the instructions that I have gathered regarding the exercise:
Sam Lowry (Brazil, 1985)
He is a typical daydreamer that every underachiever can relate to when sitting in a dead end job and no real desire to move up the ladder of life. However, what makes Sam Lowry atypical from the humdrum of mediocrity is the wackiness of his life's circumstances that thrusts him upon an adventurous life that he has always dreamed about, but never desired to live with all actuality. Most of his daydreams center upon the idealistic perfect woman that he has fallen in love with, but he is surprised when he discovers that there is a woman who looks exactly like her. Although the real life counterpart to his dream woman lives a grunge life as a lower-middle class English woman who protests the treatment of her upstairs neighbor she is still perceived as the refined princess of his dreams. Sam is an underdog, of sorts, as he obtains no real outstanding talents that would normally propel him to a great stature, but he is an ambitious product of his environment that encourages achieving amazing heroic acts of love and honor. He is marked as a personal favorite for his accessibility as an “everyman” that proves just about anyone is capable of achieving greatness regardless of their circumstances.
Michael Clayton (Michael Clayton, 2007)
Oh, the glory of being the person that everyone is so heavily reliant upon because of the inability to survive without your precious gift and talent for cleaning up after him or her when there is a disastrous mess left in their wake. Michael Clayton is known as a legal cleaner by his employer, who has forced him to fly under the professional radar for several years in order to keep the company’s flaws and massive errors a secret from the public. Michael does desire to be a courtroom lawyer as he was once before at the start of his legal career, but he holds the talent for plugging in the holes for the legal firm that he has been working for since college. He is good at what he does, despite not being thrilled with the position that he holds. The ideal career benefit for Michael is that he would not be harassed by the annoying public figures such as the news media or unsatisfied clients who considered to be left with an unfair court trial. Despite a lack for any public recognition or a collection of compliments from the clients that he could have served during the course of his career, he still has earned the biggest payoff of any legal career. His moment of glory is returned tenfold by single-handedly uncovering the largest corporate scandal of the century when he was originally sent out by his employer to clean up after one of the firm’s lawyers whose manic depression leads to a public breakdown that could ruin the company’s reputation. Michael Clayton is a personal favorite character of mine for his ability of getting a job done right by going beyond the call of duty; and he has one of the best moments of cinematic payoff that would make everyone envious.
Frank Pierce (Bringing Out the Dead, 1999)
Throw a group of hard working people into a room together and it can be an absolute guarantee that the majority of those individuals have worked at least one job in their life which has burned the person down to the utter core, leaving nothing but an empty shell of a human being behind. This description maybe over dramatic, but at the time of working an uninteresting job for the mere desperation of obtaining a paycheck it can be the most dreaded experience for anyone. Frank Pierce is the fictional figure of a hard working American who has been burning both ends of the candle for a couple of years as an EMT before the audience meets him in the film Bringing Out the Dead. He is a burnout paramedic who has lost all interest and sympathy for performing his duties as the everlasting hero of the streets who is saving lives by rushing their bodies to the hospitals as fast as he can. Frank is a personal favorite character of mine, because I cold personally relate to his experience of working the third (graveyard) shift for several years, which can be mind boggling for the person who experiences life on a completely different time clock against everyone else around. Relating to the character within the story can create a strong bond between the character and the person who is listening to his or her story. That is the case between Frank and me; we both had dreaded showing up for that one particular job.
Batman (Batman, 1989, et al.)
No, I am not one of those particular bandwagon fans who had hopped on to the Batman craze ever since Christopher Nolan had taken over the last installments of the film franchise. Although I cannot consider myself to be a comic book geek capable of rattling off detailed facts about the history of the character that has accumulated from the large collection of comic books about Batman, I must say that I am a fan of the character’s persona more than anything else. He is a mysterious figure to the city in which he lives, Gotham City, who has not a single clue that his identity is that of their ideal multi-billionaire executive. Bruce Wayne has a dark seated past with the loss of his parents, which makes him fallible as a human being. This makes him obtainable to the everyman who would not believe he or she could be within an arm’s reach of a rich man. Wayne’s fortune is a mere convenience to his design as a rogue crime fighter. This little piece of information serves as a logical explanation to how he could afford the time to spend all night long roaming the streets to save the city from crime and destruction while using the most amazing technology and customized gadgets that his company has created just for him. The reason why the crime fighting superhero, Batman, is one of my favorite characters would be the fact that he is a mere human being with his own share of fallacies, just like the rest of us, but he gets all the greatest gadgets and gizmos to mess around with and not have to worry about a budget.
Norman Bates (Psycho, 1960)
Anyone who can remember the weak momma’s boy in elementary, junior, or primary school might remember what a coward the kid was around the playground. However, who would ever imagine that same little weakling would grow up to be a serial killer who owns his own motel off the side of the archaic highway? Norman Bates is an immorally evil person for the sins that he has committed: murder, and lust. Nevertheless, at the same time we are empathetic for his social ineptitude. Why would I ever consider him an ideal favorite character? Frankly, Norman Bates is a character that scares the living crap out of me. None of his victims was able to see the onslaught of his murderous rage coming right at them. Norman’s history of a childhood maternal murder that evolves into a lustful rage seems to be intriguing to me for its extremely loose connection to real life murderer Ed Gein. This connection turns a fictional character into a figure that mirrors reality, which in my mind implies the plausibility of reality. However, the core reason why I would list Mister Bates as a personal favorite character would be his story that has garnered enough personal empathy from me that I honestly feel sorry for him. He feels entrapped in his own little world by an evil villain (his mother) that he feels obligated to murder every person that he believes his mom considers being a sinful hindrance in his life.
Jean Valjean (Les Misérables, 1934)
The epitome of every single hero who has been idealized in every epic novel for the last several centuries has been designed to suffer through the process of turning his or her life from pure mulch into that of the heroic figure that we could eternally immortalize as an iconic figure. Jean Valjean is a punished criminal who is able to readjust his criminal behavior into a figure of moral heroism by working his way up to the position of a city mayor and a responsible parent of an adoptive child. He is a the ultimate iconic figure of character redemption who suffers through nearly two decades of jail time before he thrusts himself upon lofty goals of moral redemption and personal promises. What makes Jean Valjean a unique persona from the other characters that I have mentioned so far? The answer would be with the amount of prison time he served and the emotional low that he has suffered through before he began his ascent toward higher ground and redemption. He is a proven convict who has served his sentence, but I could still relate to him mentally and emotionally as he experiences the duress of characteristic transformation into the civic and moral figure that he emanates at the end of his story. His story is about personal redemption and integrity that everyone could emulate during the course of their life.
Evey Hammond (V for Vendetta, 2006)
If Katherine Hepburn was still in her twenties at the time the film V for Vendetta was being produced, I could promise you that she would be one of the leading candidates to portray Evey Hammond. Why is that so? It is because the role of Evey is one of the strongest female lead characters in the last ten years, in my honest opinion, and Hepburn has built her reputation for portraying strong, independent women. As her story develops in the film, Evey Hammond’s character has evolved from a passive woman who is assaulted in a street alley at the start of the film into a strong figure with heroism oozing from every fiber of her being. She has become a role model of self-sufficiency and courage that everyone could emulate. The emotionally moving story is about her transformation, and it nearly brings me to tears every time I see the film. Remember, being the macho person that I am, it is nearly “impossible” to make a grown man cry. Without a need for theatrics or grandstanding, I will make it rather simplistic in my explanation for choosing Evey as a forerunner for the top spot in my list of favorite characters. She is a role model for everyone, someone who personifies personal integrity and does not allow to be taken advantage of by anyone else. She knows what personal courage is all about.
Wadsworth (Clue, 1985)
He would have to be one of the most entertaining dinner hosts that any of us could ever hope to have at a social event. Wadsworth is a self-proclaimed butler who merely “buttles” by keeping everything tidy. However, it appears that he quickly find himself to be the center point of a dinner party gone awry. During one particular dinner party that he has organized on behalf of his employer, Mr. Body, on a stormy evening in 1955 it is much to the shocking horror that the bodies of his co-workers and fellow house employees are hitting the floor one by one. Wadsworth hilariously attempts to keep his house guests under control as they are running horrifically away from being murdered by an unknown assailant. Although the thought of personally attending a social dinner party in a suit and tie is a murderous headache for myself, but when I bear witness to the death of the cook and the maid I would be utterly flabbergasted. It takes a war to make a soldier, and a killer of a comedic dinner party to produce a hilarious, albeit a jinx, of sorts, dinner host.
Léon (Léon: The Professional, 1994)
“No women, no kids.” Léon’s career is held so dearly to that code of ethics. He is a professional assassin who quietly kills people for the Italian mob in New York City. Despite the immorality of his career choice, he has held on tightly to one last shred of morality by not murdering women and children, whom he believes to be innocent of wrongdoing. The irony of his attachment to the personal moral code is the new apprentice he begins training. She is a twelve-year-old girl wanting to take revenge against a crooked drug cop who murders her entire family. Léon accepts her as an apprentice since the crooked cop killed two women and a child in Matilda’s family. It is ironic that his apprentice is still a child herself, and a woman, which would counteract the implied meaning of his stanza that women and children are innocent, and thus should not be killed by his own hands. Therefore, you may be asking why I would consider him a favorite character of mine when he is an immoral figure for being an assassin and being a negative influence on a young girl. Plainly spoken Léon kicks butt by being a father figure for Matilda, despite his hesitation to take her in after bearing witness to the murder of her family. He may be the perfect assassin in New York City, but he still has a compassionate heart for others that he is afraid to show.
Raoul Duke (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, 1998)
“Eccentricities” would be the best word to describe Raoul Duke, a nom de plume for real life writer Hunter S. Thompson. He is a raving lunatic that wanders the streets of America observing the nature of our country through the most intricately unique point of view that no other writer has been able to write down on paper. Raoul is a psychotic figure who probably has never been certified as a recognized lunatic by a psychiatric board. If you were to meet him on the street there may be very little certainty whether you would laugh at his embellished behavior or run for your life in complete terror. It is that eccentric behavior of his that makes him an ideal character of cinematic insanity. Although I would hate to be the housekeeper who has been assigned to clean his hotel room after he checks out, he would be the staunch storyteller of every party that captivates the party crowd with a never-ending list of stories to divulge.
Whew! This has to be one of the lengthiest posts that I have ever written for the Matte Havoc blog. Aside from reaching the end of the list of top ten favorite characters, there resides one last item on the “To Do” list for this article. Following are the other sites that I have tagged as part of the meme trail; each one has been sent an e-mail or site comment about this article and their involuntary desire to be tagged by myself. Therefore, here we go:
May each of the contestants respond with their own Top Ten list in a more rapid response time than I have done with my list? I would unable to predict how soon they will post their lists, but we should keep an eye on their sites to find out.
With the theme of choosing ten favorite movie characters, I was rather intrigued by the whole idea of this one particular "meme" chain letter. Usually I avoid chain letters, and so I had ignored several of the e-mails and tags that were sent in my direction. Until recently, I began thinking that it would be rude of me to ignore this last tag of sorts without really looking into it a tiny bit. After viewing the post over at Napier's News, the blog site who recently tagged me, I thought it should be a fun exercise to list ten of my favorite cinematic characters. The most challenging portion of this exercise will be to tag five other blog sites that have not already been tagged. Anyway, here are the instructions that I have gathered regarding the exercise:
- Tag five blog sites that must create their own Top 10 list.
- Make a personal top ten list of favorite movie characters.
Now the fun begins with my own personal favorite list of characters. I have placed the five-tagged blogs at the end of the article and they have been notified by e-mail. My list of characters is placed in no particular order, so I would not consider one character to be above or below any of the others on the list.
- Explain why each of the ten characters is my favorite persona of all time.
- Avoid listing particular actors by name, even if they portrayed a favorite character. Actors are separate from the characters they portray.
Sam Lowry (Brazil, 1985)He is a typical daydreamer that every underachiever can relate to when sitting in a dead end job and no real desire to move up the ladder of life. However, what makes Sam Lowry atypical from the humdrum of mediocrity is the wackiness of his life's circumstances that thrusts him upon an adventurous life that he has always dreamed about, but never desired to live with all actuality. Most of his daydreams center upon the idealistic perfect woman that he has fallen in love with, but he is surprised when he discovers that there is a woman who looks exactly like her. Although the real life counterpart to his dream woman lives a grunge life as a lower-middle class English woman who protests the treatment of her upstairs neighbor she is still perceived as the refined princess of his dreams. Sam is an underdog, of sorts, as he obtains no real outstanding talents that would normally propel him to a great stature, but he is an ambitious product of his environment that encourages achieving amazing heroic acts of love and honor. He is marked as a personal favorite for his accessibility as an “everyman” that proves just about anyone is capable of achieving greatness regardless of their circumstances.
Michael Clayton (Michael Clayton, 2007)Oh, the glory of being the person that everyone is so heavily reliant upon because of the inability to survive without your precious gift and talent for cleaning up after him or her when there is a disastrous mess left in their wake. Michael Clayton is known as a legal cleaner by his employer, who has forced him to fly under the professional radar for several years in order to keep the company’s flaws and massive errors a secret from the public. Michael does desire to be a courtroom lawyer as he was once before at the start of his legal career, but he holds the talent for plugging in the holes for the legal firm that he has been working for since college. He is good at what he does, despite not being thrilled with the position that he holds. The ideal career benefit for Michael is that he would not be harassed by the annoying public figures such as the news media or unsatisfied clients who considered to be left with an unfair court trial. Despite a lack for any public recognition or a collection of compliments from the clients that he could have served during the course of his career, he still has earned the biggest payoff of any legal career. His moment of glory is returned tenfold by single-handedly uncovering the largest corporate scandal of the century when he was originally sent out by his employer to clean up after one of the firm’s lawyers whose manic depression leads to a public breakdown that could ruin the company’s reputation. Michael Clayton is a personal favorite character of mine for his ability of getting a job done right by going beyond the call of duty; and he has one of the best moments of cinematic payoff that would make everyone envious.
Frank Pierce (Bringing Out the Dead, 1999)Throw a group of hard working people into a room together and it can be an absolute guarantee that the majority of those individuals have worked at least one job in their life which has burned the person down to the utter core, leaving nothing but an empty shell of a human being behind. This description maybe over dramatic, but at the time of working an uninteresting job for the mere desperation of obtaining a paycheck it can be the most dreaded experience for anyone. Frank Pierce is the fictional figure of a hard working American who has been burning both ends of the candle for a couple of years as an EMT before the audience meets him in the film Bringing Out the Dead. He is a burnout paramedic who has lost all interest and sympathy for performing his duties as the everlasting hero of the streets who is saving lives by rushing their bodies to the hospitals as fast as he can. Frank is a personal favorite character of mine, because I cold personally relate to his experience of working the third (graveyard) shift for several years, which can be mind boggling for the person who experiences life on a completely different time clock against everyone else around. Relating to the character within the story can create a strong bond between the character and the person who is listening to his or her story. That is the case between Frank and me; we both had dreaded showing up for that one particular job.
Batman (Batman, 1989, et al.)No, I am not one of those particular bandwagon fans who had hopped on to the Batman craze ever since Christopher Nolan had taken over the last installments of the film franchise. Although I cannot consider myself to be a comic book geek capable of rattling off detailed facts about the history of the character that has accumulated from the large collection of comic books about Batman, I must say that I am a fan of the character’s persona more than anything else. He is a mysterious figure to the city in which he lives, Gotham City, who has not a single clue that his identity is that of their ideal multi-billionaire executive. Bruce Wayne has a dark seated past with the loss of his parents, which makes him fallible as a human being. This makes him obtainable to the everyman who would not believe he or she could be within an arm’s reach of a rich man. Wayne’s fortune is a mere convenience to his design as a rogue crime fighter. This little piece of information serves as a logical explanation to how he could afford the time to spend all night long roaming the streets to save the city from crime and destruction while using the most amazing technology and customized gadgets that his company has created just for him. The reason why the crime fighting superhero, Batman, is one of my favorite characters would be the fact that he is a mere human being with his own share of fallacies, just like the rest of us, but he gets all the greatest gadgets and gizmos to mess around with and not have to worry about a budget.
Norman Bates (Psycho, 1960)Anyone who can remember the weak momma’s boy in elementary, junior, or primary school might remember what a coward the kid was around the playground. However, who would ever imagine that same little weakling would grow up to be a serial killer who owns his own motel off the side of the archaic highway? Norman Bates is an immorally evil person for the sins that he has committed: murder, and lust. Nevertheless, at the same time we are empathetic for his social ineptitude. Why would I ever consider him an ideal favorite character? Frankly, Norman Bates is a character that scares the living crap out of me. None of his victims was able to see the onslaught of his murderous rage coming right at them. Norman’s history of a childhood maternal murder that evolves into a lustful rage seems to be intriguing to me for its extremely loose connection to real life murderer Ed Gein. This connection turns a fictional character into a figure that mirrors reality, which in my mind implies the plausibility of reality. However, the core reason why I would list Mister Bates as a personal favorite character would be his story that has garnered enough personal empathy from me that I honestly feel sorry for him. He feels entrapped in his own little world by an evil villain (his mother) that he feels obligated to murder every person that he believes his mom considers being a sinful hindrance in his life.
Jean Valjean (Les Misérables, 1934)The epitome of every single hero who has been idealized in every epic novel for the last several centuries has been designed to suffer through the process of turning his or her life from pure mulch into that of the heroic figure that we could eternally immortalize as an iconic figure. Jean Valjean is a punished criminal who is able to readjust his criminal behavior into a figure of moral heroism by working his way up to the position of a city mayor and a responsible parent of an adoptive child. He is a the ultimate iconic figure of character redemption who suffers through nearly two decades of jail time before he thrusts himself upon lofty goals of moral redemption and personal promises. What makes Jean Valjean a unique persona from the other characters that I have mentioned so far? The answer would be with the amount of prison time he served and the emotional low that he has suffered through before he began his ascent toward higher ground and redemption. He is a proven convict who has served his sentence, but I could still relate to him mentally and emotionally as he experiences the duress of characteristic transformation into the civic and moral figure that he emanates at the end of his story. His story is about personal redemption and integrity that everyone could emulate during the course of their life.
Evey Hammond (V for Vendetta, 2006)If Katherine Hepburn was still in her twenties at the time the film V for Vendetta was being produced, I could promise you that she would be one of the leading candidates to portray Evey Hammond. Why is that so? It is because the role of Evey is one of the strongest female lead characters in the last ten years, in my honest opinion, and Hepburn has built her reputation for portraying strong, independent women. As her story develops in the film, Evey Hammond’s character has evolved from a passive woman who is assaulted in a street alley at the start of the film into a strong figure with heroism oozing from every fiber of her being. She has become a role model of self-sufficiency and courage that everyone could emulate. The emotionally moving story is about her transformation, and it nearly brings me to tears every time I see the film. Remember, being the macho person that I am, it is nearly “impossible” to make a grown man cry. Without a need for theatrics or grandstanding, I will make it rather simplistic in my explanation for choosing Evey as a forerunner for the top spot in my list of favorite characters. She is a role model for everyone, someone who personifies personal integrity and does not allow to be taken advantage of by anyone else. She knows what personal courage is all about.
Wadsworth (Clue, 1985)He would have to be one of the most entertaining dinner hosts that any of us could ever hope to have at a social event. Wadsworth is a self-proclaimed butler who merely “buttles” by keeping everything tidy. However, it appears that he quickly find himself to be the center point of a dinner party gone awry. During one particular dinner party that he has organized on behalf of his employer, Mr. Body, on a stormy evening in 1955 it is much to the shocking horror that the bodies of his co-workers and fellow house employees are hitting the floor one by one. Wadsworth hilariously attempts to keep his house guests under control as they are running horrifically away from being murdered by an unknown assailant. Although the thought of personally attending a social dinner party in a suit and tie is a murderous headache for myself, but when I bear witness to the death of the cook and the maid I would be utterly flabbergasted. It takes a war to make a soldier, and a killer of a comedic dinner party to produce a hilarious, albeit a jinx, of sorts, dinner host.
Léon (Léon: The Professional, 1994)“No women, no kids.” Léon’s career is held so dearly to that code of ethics. He is a professional assassin who quietly kills people for the Italian mob in New York City. Despite the immorality of his career choice, he has held on tightly to one last shred of morality by not murdering women and children, whom he believes to be innocent of wrongdoing. The irony of his attachment to the personal moral code is the new apprentice he begins training. She is a twelve-year-old girl wanting to take revenge against a crooked drug cop who murders her entire family. Léon accepts her as an apprentice since the crooked cop killed two women and a child in Matilda’s family. It is ironic that his apprentice is still a child herself, and a woman, which would counteract the implied meaning of his stanza that women and children are innocent, and thus should not be killed by his own hands. Therefore, you may be asking why I would consider him a favorite character of mine when he is an immoral figure for being an assassin and being a negative influence on a young girl. Plainly spoken Léon kicks butt by being a father figure for Matilda, despite his hesitation to take her in after bearing witness to the murder of her family. He may be the perfect assassin in New York City, but he still has a compassionate heart for others that he is afraid to show.
Raoul Duke (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, 1998)“Eccentricities” would be the best word to describe Raoul Duke, a nom de plume for real life writer Hunter S. Thompson. He is a raving lunatic that wanders the streets of America observing the nature of our country through the most intricately unique point of view that no other writer has been able to write down on paper. Raoul is a psychotic figure who probably has never been certified as a recognized lunatic by a psychiatric board. If you were to meet him on the street there may be very little certainty whether you would laugh at his embellished behavior or run for your life in complete terror. It is that eccentric behavior of his that makes him an ideal character of cinematic insanity. Although I would hate to be the housekeeper who has been assigned to clean his hotel room after he checks out, he would be the staunch storyteller of every party that captivates the party crowd with a never-ending list of stories to divulge.
Whew! This has to be one of the lengthiest posts that I have ever written for the Matte Havoc blog. Aside from reaching the end of the list of top ten favorite characters, there resides one last item on the “To Do” list for this article. Following are the other sites that I have tagged as part of the meme trail; each one has been sent an e-mail or site comment about this article and their involuntary desire to be tagged by myself. Therefore, here we go:
May each of the contestants respond with their own Top Ten list in a more rapid response time than I have done with my list? I would unable to predict how soon they will post their lists, but we should keep an eye on their sites to find out.
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