MOVIE GLORIFICATIONS AND THE FEEL OF CITIZEN LAMES

Memento is truly unique. The story is told backwards, it uses flashbacks, and it also has an alternate storyline. That’s very daunting, but that is exactly the right amount of complication a thriller needs in order to be interesting and fun. Memento might have been completely incomprehensible to the point of ridiculousness if it was directed by anyone other than Nolan. Somehow Nolan can make the most preposterous screenplays make so much sense. Somehow all the surreality in his movies is still believable and feels so real. He’s magic.  He was probably one of the most exciting directors of the last decade, and Memento was definitely one of the best movies of the last decade.

Watch Memento.

Although, one question. If the last thing Leonard Shelby remembers is his wife dying, then how does he remember that he has short-term memory loss?

A horror film usually consists of nothing more than groups of teenagers being killed off with the exception of one survivor to populate a sequel. That’s probably why horror can’t really be taken seriously as a movie genre. It’s a genre with filled with disturbing images and no hope of any kind. The Shining does things a little differently, though. At the end a family loses a father, but we also learn of the evidence of afterlife in their world. Any story that ends in afterlife is an optimistic one. A horror film with a happy ending. That’s what makes The Shining one of the greatest horror movies of all time. It’s one of the best for the same reason Let the Right One In, The Ring, Psycho, and Alien are the bests. They have redeeming value.

One aspect of the movie that really fascinates me is how much Stanley Kubrick foreshadows from the very beginning. There are clues plattered everywhere. Jack’s employer warns that a former caretaker murdered his wife and two daughters, and committed suicide, but Jack reassures him: “You can rest assured, Mr. Ullman, that’s not gonna happen with me.” That’s hilarious. You laugh the first time because you suspect he’s going to kill everyone. It’s Jack Nicholson, why wouldn’t he? And the second time you watch the movie, it’s even more hysterical because you know it.

Another foreshadow would be Danny’s visions. The things Toby tells him. The shining. Toby tells us exactly what’s going to happen. We see an elevator shaft open with a wave of blood proceeding. These are all hints as of what’s going to happen. (One note on Danny’s “shining,” it’s not important to the plot whatsoever. It’s only there for suspense).

Even casting Jack Nicholson, who has this chaotic presence, and was previously just in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, was such a predictable personality to go insane. He’s not an everyday man. Jack Nicholson always plays the crazy.

Stanley Kubrick probably did all of this intentionally. From the very beginning you suspect nothing else to happen more than an absolute bloodbath. And to an extent, it is an absolute bloodbath; but Wendy and Danny survive. They live. They win. That’s the one thing that you never expect. All the odds are against them. When every arrow points to nothing but obliteration, in the end, there’s nothing but hope.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood

In the first twenty minutes, Daniel Plainview falls down a well, breaks his leg, and makes his way back up the well. When he makes his way back up, he then has to make his way back to his town that’s potentially miles and miles away. He’s in the middle of nowhere.  He makes his way back with a broken leg. He crawls all the way back on his own. The courage. And Paul Thomas Anderson doesn’t even tell us of his journey. The venture back could be a movie on its own, but that portion of the story is for us to fill in all on our own.

The courage for Daniel-Day Lewis’ character to do this almost gives him the heroic right to do all the terrible things he later does throughout the movie. Daniel-Day Lewis’ performance embodies the first twenty minutes of the movie perfectly. If you take in the beginning of There Will Be Blood, Daniel Plainview isn’t just a bastard because he’s a bastard, he’s a bastard because no one ever appreciated him for going through hell. This is a point in the movie that I feel like is often forgotten. Okay, and here are a few more thoughts:

The score by Johnny Greenwood is one of the best I’ve ever heard. It’s perfect. That’s all I have to say about that.

In the end, Daniel Plainview has permanently gotten rid of anyone he’s ever wanted to use for his own personal benefits in life. I don’t understand people that don’t like this ending.

The only thing wrong with There Will Be Blood… Maybe its lack of women or any reflection of ordinary society. But besides that, it’s perfect.

There Will Be Blood is so great. I can very proudly call it one of the best movies of the last decade. The performances are entertaining and believable, a rare combination. Daniel Painview is one of the most interesting characters. The cinematography is so harsh and well-done. I love everything about it. Watch it.

I’m finished.