The Depths of Pretension: Films From The Criterion Collection - #1: Repo Man

Since Barnes and Noble are going to do their Criterion Collection sale next month and I'm still undecided of what movie to add to my collection from the choices, I thought that while I do so, I should discuss some of my favorite movies that are in said collection, although this might be small for a while as I have not seen that many of them. I guess the easiest way I could start this is to talk about one of my favorite movies which was also the first movie in the collection that I bought, and that movie is the 1984 Alex Cox film Repo Man.

There is no real easy way to describe this movie at all, so maybe I'll just try and do the basic elements of the film so that I can try and explain why I love this movie so much. As the titles states, the movie does focus on a man who repossesses cars named Otto, who in the beginning of the film is kind of the stereotypical 80's punk kid who quits his dead end job at a supermarket in quite the rebellious fashion and that attitude kind of changes yet remains the same throughout the film. It's by pretty much accident that he ends up becoming a repo man, as he just runs into Bud, his future mentor on the job, one day when being asked to move a car for him. For the rest of the film, the story goes through a lot of tangents, whether it's following the mysterious Chevy Malibu which may or may not contain aliens in the trunk, a bunch of people chasing the car for different reasons, either for the money or research, and just following random repossessions.

Another thing that makes this movie really enjoyable is that is has one of the best soundtracks of the 80's, mostly being filled with some of the deeper punk tracks of the time. The opening track, which could also be considered the theme of the movie itself, is rather fun with it's main riff kind of mimicking the doldrums of making a living by way of driving cars, cruising through LA looking for the next opportunity to score some cash. The rest of the soundtrack has some wonderful tracks such as Black Flag's TV Party, Fear's Lets Have a War, a couple of Circle Jerks songs (who are in the movie as a lounge band performing When The Shit Hits The Fan) yet the most prominent band in the soundtrack is The Plugz, who also were behind the score of the film. With the way the film is, it's easy to see how well the soundtrack itself fits the aesthetic quite well and is rather easy to appreciate.

I could go on forever about everything that goes on with the movie and what makes it so good but that would take too long. A lot of the characters in the movie are really fun, with one of the more enjoyable ones being Miller, a man who works for the same place as Bud and Otto, but is easy to tell that he isn't quite a regular person. He could often be seen as the philosopher of the group, yet it's unsure whether or not anything he says are actual thoughts or just him being crazy and unhinged.

So, a brief moment to talk about one of my favorite movies that is also part of the Criterion Collection, and I would recommend to anyone that has an inkling of an interest to watch it to go do so immediately. I forgot to mention how quotable the film is, a tribute to how well it was written especially for such a low budget film. Again, if you haven't watched Repo Man yet, just watch it already.

I guess an update.... Never thought I'd be doing something like this

I have been having a hard time thinking about some ideas of what to write about. The original plan was to do a post on Kingdom of the Crystal Skull but as how I cannot find my copy of the movie and I'm not sure if I want to get a copy again so that will be on hold for a little while, or I might do a different movie for that but I'm finding it hard to pick something at the moment. I'll have to look on Rotten Tomatoes or Metacritic for some ideas and hopefully Netflix or Hulu will have them. I've thought about doing a post regarding what my opinion was with the ending to Taxi Driver but I also thought that it probably was analyzed to death already so that might not really be that much of an option. I also have the book thing going well so far but I'm thinking that the weekend would be my off period where I don't try and write anything on it or I'd probably go insane with having no real direction with it. Anyways, I might try doing more analysis of certain movie moments as it could provide at least an interesting getaway from everything else. Or I might do a series where I talk about movies that I think are overrated to the point that it doesn't make much sense as to why they are adored as much as they are. If only people would comment on the posts then I could have a better idea of what to talk about. I'd love to hear people's opinions on what I write so I could see how I could improve so any of the people that read my stuff want to say anything, I'd be more than happy to hear about it.

Getting Back To Writing - Writing My Novel Part 1

So I've decided to try and work on finishing a book for once because I'm still wondering how I'm going to get my story from point A to B since I know what the ending is but not really how it gets there. And so I'm hoping that maybe I could get the thing done even if it'll end up being a colossal failure with the plot development as I have never really tried to grab the attention of anyone for a full novel length, whatever that really means. I think I'm going to try and get to at least 65000 words for the book and so far I'm at around 3500 so I'm about 5% of the way there already. And it is really hard to come up with things to do with the whole having no real idea where to go.

I have at least the basic idea of the structure of the plot where the first day is more of the basic setup for the character and setting, day two is the initial reaction to the conflict (the one girl disappearing) without it being really clear about that it is a disappearance until the next day, which is where the main character finds out due to meeting up with a detective whom she befriends and tries to help out with his investigation in any way, by way of looking up things on her own. And then the fourth day is kind of the same thing except for the whole ending of the book happening there, as it has a ending that just ends without a clear resolution which i think works fine and is in tone with the story I'm trying to get across. Whether or not it'll end up being a good story is anyone's guess. Even if it ended up going well, it'll probably not market well, due to either being a sort of young adult novel that is really trying to be dark or a deep story that isn't well written enough for intellectuals.

And it would be a strange thing if the book ended up doing well that I could at least get some decent money off of it but I don't really expect that to happen, especially if I can't keep the ending the way I want it to. Although I do have a plan to write an extended epilogue where there is some sort of story regarding the detective and him finding the one responsible for the ending but I kind of have the plan to make it like the end of like Twin Peaks or The Vanishing as the basis of where the story is going to go. It is rather weird that I take influence from a ton of other sources for my writing besides books. And it's not like I don't like reading. It's just I have a hard time finding stuff to read along with having a hard time keeping my attention to things. So I'll try and maybe work on the book some more and maybe post about it again when I reach around 10000 words to discuss the progress.

The Most Love/Hate Bipolar Relationship A Show Can Cause - Why Do I Enjoy 24?

When the announcement came that a one-off season of 24 was going to air this year, I was really excited along with many other people. The series finale left a bitter taste in my mouth in what was also a rather uneven final season. And yet after binge watching the entire series in anticipation, I began to see that as a whole, the series wasn't really that great to begin with. Out of all the seasons, there can be some debate about which one is the best but it will usually come between seasons 1-5, take or leave season 2. As for me, overall, the one I consider to be the best is in fact the first season. While later seasons had some great elements that surpass the first one, most of it having to do with the casting and overall moments that can make me go "woo hoo!" but there was never really any consistency in terms of the flow of the story and events as the first one did, minus the whole amnesia subplot but that also leads to something weird that makes the show kind of really enjoyable: that it can get really dumb sometimes.

While some of those moments where the show does kind of get off track can really derail the show for a large period of time, one of the more obvious examples being the whole Kim subplot of season two (with the protecting a girl from her abusive dad, escaping police custody, a cougar, a mountain man, the list goes on) it can just come with the territory of how the show itself is structured.  Being as the whole gimmick of the show is that each season takes place within a period of 24 hours, and each episode itself is an hour, there can often be problems with the story either by there being lulls where almost nothing happens. Which is one of the things that got me more excited about the revival being only 12 episodes, in hopes that it could condense the story and have less of the dumb subplots that plagued the series since the beginning. But as of the first episodes have shown, it is still as dumb as it has been for a long time. There are good things about it, usually what comes within the last few minutes of the episode is always nice, but the show has been kind of a boring slog for the most part this season. I'll probably end up watching it till the end but it just makes me wish that what they had promised was actually what I was watching. So why do I still watch this show even though it can piss me off to no end?

And the answer to that question can be that there is always something worth watching in the show for each season. There are some good villains for each seasons despite the convoluted ways of getting them involved, with some of my favorites being the Drazens in season 1, the Henderson/Logan combo of season 5 which does make me remember that season 8 started getting really enjoyable when Charles Logan came back in a larger role than his one off appearance in season 6. Some of the better seasons also had a great season opener for the most part, like season 5 killing off two major characters right away. Some have some stupid elements, like Jack's heroin addiction but that mostly has to do with that plot line as a whole rather than the reveal and when he bites off the neck of some guy. And while I enjoy Jack Bauer becoming more of a badass as the show progresses, culminating when he goes into a full blown revenge mission at the end of the series, it is also weird that he's supposed to be in his 50s around this time.

And then there is this miniseries. The first half of it has been what plagued the series for most of its run, with little to no change at all. Reading articles beforehand regarding it had left me rather excited about it but it seems like those hopes I had for it's return have been dashed away. There have been some good parts in it but they come few and far between, while most of the melodrama that the series has been known for has been more prevalent throughout. From Jack and the stuff with people from his past to the stuff going on with the terrorists this time, it really drags down the story and makes a lot of the decisions really odd and confusing. There is also the fact that why do people still never listen to Jack? Then again, if anyone listened, the show would probably be shorter but at this point, it could be a benefit.

This comes back to the question, Why do I enjoy 24? And to be honest, I am not sure. There are good things about it and the most obvious reason is Jack Bauer, but for the most part there are too many things about it that make the show a chore to watch and one I will probably not go back to anytime soon after this miniseries is over. I'm hoping that maybe the show pulls something out and does something completely unexpected which could be possible but it seems like that won't happen at this point.

The Desire Of The Remake By Way Of Same Director

It has been a common thing in movies as of recent years that many properties are getting remade, usually in a pattern of thirty years in between the original and the remake. Though that is a rather small estimation, the 80's have been a high source of material to be remade just in the past few years alone, although some also fit into the "reboot" category, taking the property and going a different direction. The remake can find an audience due to the nostalgia factor of having watched the originals at a younger age, thus probably can be used as an excuse for movie companies to make a quick buck despite being an inferior product. There is a rarer type of remake, where the same director of the original is behind the helm. This is a different animal to tackle due to the immediate involvement of the creator behind the the original. What reason would they have in doing so? There are two broad reasons I can think of so let's look at some examples of movies that fall under this criteria.

Two early examples of this occurring would be from the earlier productions of cinema, the creations of Alfred Hitchcock and Celil B. Demille, with their movies The Man Who Knew Too Much and The Ten Commandments. Since that everyone has probably heard of The Ten Commandments, it shall be the first starting point. The first time Demille put his biblical epic to the screen, it was in 1923 with an overall budget of almost $1.5 million, used two-strip Technicolor and had one of it's most lauded effects (the parting of the Red Sea) done using Jell-O. Although one of the bigger differences between the two was that in this version, the story of Moses only takes up about a third of the 136 minute running time, with the rest of the film focusing on a cautionary tale set in modern day about the ways different interpretations of the commandments can affect the way someone can live their life. A major oddity considering the gigantic sets built for the Moses story, including 35 foot tall statues and 110 foot gates requiring the assistance of 1600 workers,all for such a little but of screen time, and then only to be blown up later. Why Demille chose to remake this film is one that can be explained in a way that could only fit him: he wanted a bigger and better film than before. Anyone who has seen it can attest to the size and scope of the movie, a testament to the vision he wanted to bring to the screen. Improving on the original, while can be for different reasons, can be a reason that would be rather respected among peers. The Man Who Knew Too Much would also fit into this boat as Hitchcock himself had said "Let's say the first version is the work of a talented amateur and the second was made by a professional." My knowledge of the film is lacking so I will not go into further detail about it.

This philosophy of remakes does not necessarily have to mean that the original was either a big budget Hollywood film or either separated by a large number of years. Michael Mann in 1989 made a TV movie intended for a future series called LA Takedown, which follows a LA detective named Vincent Hanna as he chases Patrick McLaren, a professional robber. If that plot sounds awfully similar to the movie Heat, it should not be as much of a surprise as expected due to that also being directed by Mann. Both movies are only separated by six years while showing a large improvement from one to the other. The plot does not have that much of a difference aside from added subplots in the remake, most notably the whole matter involving Van Zant, which could be explained due to 70 pages were removed from the script for time constraints. LA Takedown, as being a made for TV movie, had a cast of relative unknowns or character actors who also appeared in Miami Vice as guest roles which could be one of the bigger detriments towards the original when compared to the big name cast of Heat, adding enough star power to make a better acted film all the more easier. While it could be kind of a redundant process as the six year gap in between the movies, it at least transcended some medium barriers to make it at least worthwhile.

Which comes to the next movie, the whole inspiration for the post: The Vanishing. Directed by George Sluizer and released in 1988, the original film (itself an adaptation of the novella The Golden Egg) focuses on a Dutch couple (later just one of them) named Rex and Saskia who are on holiday in France when during a stop at a petrol station, Saskia mysteriously vanishes. After this point, most of the movie focuses on the man behind her disappearance, Raymond, with some time spent with Rex as he grows obsessive wondering what happened. After Rex is interviewed, Raymond finally meets him and says he wants to satisfy his obsession. The final third of the film is spent with both of them on a trip while Raymond explains some of his motivations regarding why he kidnapped Saskia and leads to a rather abrupt but poignant ending that fits with the tone of the film. The movie itself was well received and was remade five years later to be more palatable to American audiences, which can be an easier way of saying butchered. It is hard to explain why the movie failed the way it did but there are easy reasons to where differences between the films show what went wrong. The more obvious flaw to the remake is the "happy" ending tacked on to the remake, only really making any sense due to the added amount of time spent on Jeff's (the Rex of the remake) new girlfriend, who in the original was not as involved in the plot, exiting the story shortly before the meeting of Rex and Raymond. The added time spent with Jeff and his girlfriend takes away from the remakes Raymond, Barney, who does not really seem as developed a character as he was in the original despite being played by Jeff Bridges. The casting also really suffers due to the lacking script, leading to a lot of wasted talent only exacerbated by having the original director involved. While remaking foreign movies to make them more attractive to American audiences is not really a new thing, the fact that it leads to the film being devoid of the original's emotion despite having the talent behind it is rather a sad thing to deal with.

The final film for discussion can fit into the Americanized remake yet also suffers from being too similar to the original to the point where it becomes rather unnecessary. The film is Michael Haneke's Funny Games which was originally a 1997 Austrian film later remade ten years later. The movie could at best be described as a experiment to mess with the expectations of the viewer, while also being a message on violence in media, making, in the words of the director, "a violent yet pointless film." The movie itself could be considered a home invasion film as two mysterious teens hold a family of three hostage. It often breaks the 4th wall as the leader of the two, Paul, often acknowledges the audience either by talking to them directly or just occasional winks. The other one, Peter, references the tropes and cliches of suspense and thriller type movies as well. This in turn, leads to both characters both following and defying the standard plot elements where even the ending is literally rewound in order to mess with the audience. The remake was done in America as was Haneke's original intention and while the intention is well, maybe due to the fact it is a shot-for-shot remake, it is even more of a pointless film than the original. It is hard to say how much of a difference really exists as I have not watched the remake but despite an English speaking cast and an American crew, there probably isn't enough of a difference for a remake to be necessary.

There are more movies that could be discussed here and maybe someday I will get into it (possibly much better than I am now) but this at least gives a basic idea of the reasoning why remakes happen especially when they involve the original team and director in an immediate matter. Whether or not it happens more in the coming years remains to be seen but remakes are an idea that not everyone will get behind yet will happen. Just hope that it ends up working out, or there is still the original at least.