Why I Love This Movie: Part 2, The New World

The New World, a 2006 effort by Terrence Malick, is the next installment in our little series. It chronicles the arrival of the settlers at Jamestown, their battle to survive their first winter, and what comes from all of this. But, more importantly, it does not tell the story solely from the settlers’ point of view. There is even more emphasis put on what this tiny settlement did to the natives.

Malick’s vision is brought to life by a group of incredible actors. Colin Farrell leads the cast as the emotionally distraught John Smith. And this is a far cry from the John Smith seen in Disney’s Pocahontas. This guy is rough, confused, and does not ever burst into song. Basically, he is a perfect example of the roles Farrell is best in. Farrell is supported by a young woman making her movie debut as Pocahontas. Q’Orianka Kilcher is absolutely perfect as the young woman who captures the heart of not only every character she comes in contact with, but of the audience as well. Her portrayal of a Pocahontas confused by her own heart, and curious of the unknown, is flawless.

Backing up those two we have the combined genius of Christian Bale, Christopher Plummer, and Wes Studi, any one of which could get me to a movie. Basically, we have a star-studded cast. Which is reason number one for loving this movie.

The movie that Malick gives us is beautiful. It is not the wacky hijinks version of the story Disney gave us, nor is it the action packed thriller version that some idiot has probably made at some point. It is the dream version. This is the version of the story you would see if you fell asleep in the woods in Virginia after hearing someone tell you this story.

Malick has a gift for using landscape and people’s thoughts to tell the story. The Thin Red Line is another example of this part of his genius. The New World took that idea and ran with it. We see why the natives wanted to protect what they had. Anyone would. It was absolutely beautiful. The land was beautiful, the people were beautiful, their way of life was beautiful. You’d be a fool not to fight for that. But how could they fight against guns and cannons? What were they supposed to do when the invaders burned down their fields and houses so that they could plant tobacco there? I don’t know. You have to wonder what our nation would be like if the settlers had adapted to the native way of life. What would we look like if they had combined the two cultures instead of trying to destroy the one that was there first?

That’s reasons two and three right there. It is an incredibly gorgeous movie, and I have to sit and think about it every time I watch it.

In my opinion this movie is perfect. There is nothing wrong with it. I saw it three times in theaters and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched it since I got the dvd. And the only thing I ever hear anyone say bad about it, and I hear this quite a bit, is that its boring. Well, don’t watch it thinking its going to be the Live Free or Die Hard version of the Pocahontas story. And don’t go thinking that Grandmother Willow is going to show up and start singing. Watch it thinking that its going to be slow, but most beautiful things are if you think about it.

If you can watch it like that then I urge you to watch for a couple of scenes that are my absolute favorites. Colin Farrell living and learning the native culture, Wes Studi exploring a manicured English garden, and Q’Orianka Kilcher running free after her character’s illness and death. If that just ruined the movie for you, you’re stupid and you should go read a history book, after you watch The New World.

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Before we end, I would like to answer Joey’s question from the last entry. The He-Man cartoon happened because of the Conan movie. Then the He-Man movie happened because of the success of the cartoon. So I guess Conan The Barbarian is responsible for both.

Why I Love This Movie: Part 1, Conan The Barbarian

This is the first part of what I intend to be a continuing element of this blog. I’m going to focus on a movie I love and discuss why I love it. If anyone wants to comment on something I say, I would like that. What I don’t want is someone telling me I’m an idiot for liking some movie that they hate. Or someone going, “You actually like that?” I obviously do. Read on and you will find out why. Really, whether you comment or not, I don’t want anyone thinking those things. If you are, go read a blog somewhere else.

The first movie we will be focusing on is 1981’s Conan the Barbarian. This version of Robert E. Howard’s classic sword and sorcery stories is played by Arnold Schwarzenegger and directed by John Milius. Now, let me begin by saying that I know this is not a wonderful movie. This movie did not win any awards, and it didn’t deserve any awards either. But I still love it. It was produced by Dino De Laurentiis. I don’t if any one is familiar with this man, but he also fronted the money for Barbarella and David Lynch’s Dune. I also love these movies. I recommend them. But they were not award winners either. Dune was pretty revolutionary in terms of effects, but the other aspects of the movie leave a little to be desired. Conan is the same way. Using 1981 special effects and Arnold’s accent, Milius attempted to bring the Hyborian Age to life. And I salute him. It is nothing like the Hyborian Age I imagine when reading the original stories, but he quite obviously did make his version.

Reason number one for why I love this movie is how epic it is. I really do feel like I am watching the characters go all over this imaginary world or the forgotten past. There are several distinct cultures that shown. Several distinct cities and religions are shown. They did a pretty good job of bringing a world to life.

Reason number two is James Earl Jones. James Earl Jones with long straight hair. James Earl Jones who turns into a snake. He is one of the most bizarre parts of the movie. He is supposed to look like someone who is not a part of any of the races that are now present on the earth. And he does. They did an excellent job of that. He is the perfect ultimate bad guy. He is ultimate evil in this movie. That’s important. The bad guy is a very important part of movies for me. And this one works.

Reason number three is Mako. Mako is an actor with only one name, if we are judging by Cool Runnings this is a good thing because Leon was awesome in that. Mako is not quite as good of actor as Leon is, which is actually debatable if you’ve seen The Five Heartbeats. But despite his lack of acting ability, Mako is perfect as the wizard Conan meets in the desert. Everything he says is entertaining. Sometimes it is entertaining because it works well in the movie, other times it is just funny. But I always love him.

There are a number of other reasons I love Conan. Max Von Sydow as the king. The architecture of the snake temple. The small references to things from the original stories that fans would pick up on. I even love Arnold in this movie.

But I think the real reason is I love almost anything that is about earth’s past before recorded history. Even when its totally unbelievable, like this movie, I am totally fascinated by it.
This is a fun movie. If you don’t like because you think it’s not believable or Arnold’s a terrible actor, then just get over yourself and enjoy it. It’s fun. You know it is.

As a side note, we have this movie to thank for He-Man. The He-Man toys were originally supposed to be for Conan, but it was deemed too violent to have kids toys so they had to slightly alter the toys and come up with a new story for them. So I will always love Conan simply for bringing He-Man into existence. I love He-Man.

Hope For Tomorrow

Two days ago, I watched the new President of the United States of America take office. He is the first African American President. He is the 44th president of this country. I watched a beautiful ceremony and a man that I respect take a very meaningful oath. And I watched all of this from the National Civil Rights Museum.

I don’t think the date of this inauguration could have been more perfect. The day after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. And I don’t think I could have watched the inauguration in a more perfect place. I watched Barack Obama take the office of President of the United States, while standing just feet from Dr. King gave his life to make something like that possible. It was haunting in a way. There was a power in that building that was impossible to ignore.

I feel very sorry for anyone who didn’t see the speech Obama gave. But I also feel sorry for all of you who watched by yourselves in your living room. To hear him say that we need to unite as a people and as a nation is one thing, but to hear hundreds of men and women around saying, “Amen!” is something different entirely. I could have heard that speech at home and thought what he said was a good idea, but today I felt like I was already a part of the picture he painted for us. I felt like I was already uniting with the men and women standing next to me to bring America back from the darkness it seems to be approaching. And that, right there, is what is so great about Obama. He can unite and excite people in an age where almost every other politician is disgusting them. He stands for things, and its obvious. Even if you don’t agree with him on everything you can tell that he stands for these things he says, and he truly believes them. And that’s saying something. When I look at Bush I can’t see what he stands for. He’s just there. He tries to avoid the spotlight on certain issues, but I can’t think of anything where he stands proudly in the spotlight and says, “This is what I stand for.”

There are moments in American history that I can look back on and say that I’m proud to be part of the nation that did that. There are also times that embarrass me. That’s the nature of any country. But in my lifetime I can’t think of anything that has happened where I thought, “I am proud to be in the country that this happens in.” There have been a handful of embarrassments in my lifetime, but I can’t think of anything that made me proud. Today, I was proud to be an American. For the first time in my life, I was moved by what my leader said. I stood up and clapped for the President of the United States. That has never happened before.

I also want to say that the two prayers during the ceremony Tuesday were two of the best I have ever heard in my life. Amen to both of them. And amen to John Williams for writing some music specifically for Tuesday. That was awesome.

The Top Of My Ears List 2008

This is a list of albums that came out this year that I have absolutely loved. They have been at the top of my ears ever since they came out. Some are from the beginning of '08, and others are more towards the end, but I loved all of these. They are in no particular order, and I am sure I am forgetting some. But I firmly believe these should all be owned, by you.

1. Coldplay - Viva La Vida
2. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
3. Sebastien Tellier - Sexuality
4. Tokyo Police Club - Elephant Shell
5. Kanye West - 808's and Heartbreak
6. Bloc Party - Intimacy
7. Sigur Ros - Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust
8. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
9. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
10. Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple
11. The Cool Kids - The Bake Sale ep
12. Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree

In Rememberance

The past year has seen a truly daunting amount of creative inspiration pass on. Many men that I looked up to as artists (illustrators, authors, actors, etc.) left us during the last few months. It might just be that this is the first year I have really paid attention, but I feel like it’s a little bit shocking to think about how many artists died this year. I would like to take a minute to say something about those whose influence I will especially miss.

Michael Crichton
The author of Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Congo, The Andromeda Strain, and many others, this man had a truly staggering imagination. And the amazing thing about his work is a lot of it was based on scientific ideas that he then expanded to make an imaginative story that would totally surprise his audience. My favorite Crichton novel is The Eaters of the Dead. This particular book came about as a bet with a friend that he couldn’t write a best seller based on Beowulf. Well, write it he did, and he made it both engrossing and believable. The man was truly a genius.

Michael Turner
This was a comic book artist who had reached the point where he could make a very good living by simply drawing covers. If there was a Michael Turner illustration on the front cover, the book would sell thousands more. He was that good. It wasn’t just a fluke thing. He wasn’t just the new hot thing. He was honestly that good. The books he did sold more because they were beautiful to look at. Every guy that reads comics wanted to be Michael Turner’s version of Batman. And we all wanted to meet his version of Wonder Woman. And Supergirl. And Storm. And the Invisible Woman. And the Scarlet Witch. Michael Turner could draw beautiful women with the best of them, but he could make everything else look beautiful too. The covers he did for Identity Crisis are gorgeous. They’re a huge part of what was so great about that series. And the covers he did for Civil War are the best part of that whole thing. I personally miss seeing his work every Wednesday when I go to comic book store. And I think I will for a long time.

Yves Saint Laurent
It’s interesting; just a few months before he died I had no idea who Saint Laurent was. I’ve never been what one might call a fashion expert. I’ve never been someone who knew anything about fashion at all actually. And then this last year I read a book called The Beautiful Fall about the rise of both Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld. It was fascinating. And the more I learned about him, the more interested I became. He was an artist, a designer, a traveler, the owner of a huge company; he changed the entire fashion industry and the city of Paris itself. I learned about who he was, became interested in his work and art, and then found out he had died.

Paul Newman
One in a million. I knew this man was magic when I saw Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid for the first time. I must have been about nine years old the first time I saw it. There’s not many opinions I held as a nine year old that I still fully believe, but Paul Newman being amazing is one of them. As a small boy, he had convinced me that when I died I wanted it to be in a blaze of glory, with absolutely no chance for survival. I don’t know too many other people that knew how they wanted to die at that age. And if they did, it was probably because they had seen Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid too. Cool Hand Luke. The Road to Perdition. The man was simply amazing. He really didn’t make that many movies when compared against other actors, but his characters were all played in such a way that you never quite got them out of your head.

Sir Arthur C. Clarke
For a lot of people Clarke’s greatest contribution to science fiction, and popular fiction in general, is 2001: A Space Odyssey. And I won’t argue with them for thinking that. He changed the genre of science fiction with that book and, later, with the movie. But he changed me with one of his short stories. It’s not very long, and it’s just one of many in one of his collections. It’s called The Nine Billion Names of God. That story showed me that science fiction could be something different than spaceships fighting and blasting lasers at each other. It also showed me what could be accomplished with a short story if the author really knows what he/she is doing. The story is perfect. It’s an incredibly original idea. It flows perfectly. And the ending completely blindsided me. The world of literature lost one of its best with this man.

Heath Ledger
The death of Heath Ledger completely shocked me. I wasn’t expecting it and I didn’t really know what to do with it. He wasn’t old or sick. I wasn’t expecting it to happen anytime soon. It was a very bizarre and surreal experience. I believe that he was one of the best actors we have seen in a very long time and it’s a tragedy that we have such a small amount of his work to remember him by. Never in my life have I seen a man so completely become the character he was portraying. Never before have I completely forgotten who the actor playing a character is. But that happened all the time with him. The Dark Knight, Brokeback Mountain, Lords of Dogtown. Heath Ledger disappeared in all of these movies and his prospective character became the person you were watching. He was, simply put, awesome. Even when you go back to when his acting wasn’t quite as good, with 10 Things I Hate About You and the shortl-ived, Celtic-themed, TV show The Roar. They were all awesome.

I would like to end by listing just a few people that I am not going to write about, but I believe the creative process as a whole is a little bit dimmer with them gone.
George Carlin
Sydney Pollack
Bernie Mac
Rudy Ray Moore
Isaac Hayes

Resolutions and New Grooves

This is a resolution. I am horrible about making myself write when I don’t feel a strong inclination to do so. Thus I have been very horrible about making a concerted effort to do anything at all with this blog, let alone anything that would be worth reading. So this is a resolution to try harder. I will try harder to write more often. I will also try harder to post things that could possibly be interesting to someone other than my subconscious.

On that note, I would like to start this endeavor off by saying a few things about the new Kanye West album. 808’s and Heartbreak is Mr. West’s attempt to do some things, both musically and personally, that he couldn’t do with straight hip hop. He has stated that he thinks pop music has a undeservedly bad reputation. To support this allegation he points out people like Michael Jackson, who transcended their specific genre to become world renowned musicians. Mr. West has decided that the best thing to do would be to start a new genre, and he calls it Pop Art. Not to be confused with the art movement of the same name that Andy Warhol headed up. 808’s and Heartbreak is the first music the world has heard from this new musical movement, and I just want to say that this is something we have all been waiting for. This pulls away from the repetitive crap that is mainstream hip hop today. It pulls away from the sad electro imitations that mainstream pop music is today. 808’s and Heartbreak is exactly what the mainstream music world has been crying out for. Thank you Kanye West. Thank you for putting something on the radio that doesn’t suck.

“Turn off the radio! Turn off that bullshit! What’s on the radio? Propaganda, mind-control, and turning it up is like putting on a blindfold.” – Dead Prez