Category Archives: Movies

Top Ten Movies with Love, Drugs, Murder, and General Insanity

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I am genetically incapable of enjoying an “epic” love story of the kind in Titanic or The Notebook, but I do think that the connection that we weird monkeys call “love” is a glue that can makes a dark story that much deeper and more complex. In books and on screen, I like seeing flawed struggling characters try to navigate the turns of their messed-up existence while driven in part by a passionate affection towards one another.

Here are 10 of my favorites.

Leaving Las Vegas – Nicolas Cage rightfully won an Oscar for his performance in this. An alcoholic and a prostitute, attached by a mix of passion and desperation while spiraling down due to their self-affirming drug of choice.

Requiem for a Dream – The characters might not be as complex as Leaving Las Vegas, but the self destruction is more complete. A reminder that heroin is a different beast than alcohol. But the point of the movie is that everyone has an addiction (legal or not) that can potentially drag them to the bottom.

Casino – De Niro and Sharon Stone. The classic story of trying to make something work against the momentum of human nature. This story has been told in my many ways, but I just enjoy the hell out of this one. Joe Pesci makes this movie that much more perfect.

Good Will Hunting – This is the least mentally unstable movie on the list, and the closest to a “chick flick”. To me it’s a reminder that a girl can ground a messed-up mind, especially one full of big self-centered ideas.

True Romance – You and me against the world, with guns. Like most movies on this list, I can’t quite explain what makes it so much better than any other in its genre, but certainly the following Christopher Walken scene with Dennis Hopper (the main character’s father) doesn’t hurt. The idea that love and family comes before EVERYTHING else is moving especially when put in such clear terms.

Taxi Driver – Another movie with De Niro, and another movie with a prostitute. I’m starting to think that formula is drugs + prostitution + love + blood = profound statement about human nature.

Brown Bunny – I would never recommend this movie to my friends because it’s basically 1.5 hours of nothing happening. Roger Ebert called it the “worst movie in the history of Cannes”. But to me it’s one of the most moving experiences I’ve ever had watching a film. It was the right time, the right mood, the right mindset for me. My girlfriend at the time was sleeping next to me, it was 3am, and I sat there patiently waiting for something to happen. I know I’m not alone in thinking this, as this movie is loved by many. If nothing much happens on screen for 20, 30, 40 minutes, you begin to put your own thoughts into the characters mind. Silence is powerful. But it does require patience.

Sweet and Lowdown – By far, Samantha Morton is my favorite actress ever since I saw her in the movie adaptation of Jane Eyre (1997) in high school. I think the book is terrible frankly, but her ability to convey emotion was stunning from that movie to her sex-driven tortured soul in “Under the Skin” to the simple quiet love of “Sweet and Lowdown” with Sean Penn.

Scent of a Woman – Pacino’s greatest performance. The tango scene alone is f’ing brilliant. It won’t make sense out of context, but if you’ve seen the movie, it’s one of the greatest 2 minutes of film ever (see below). This is the only movie on the list that does not actually involve a woman.

Secretary – I watched this movie twice in my life. First at around 20 and then again at around 27. In that time, I’ve seen a lot of weird forms of love and obsession, and went from finding the movie creepy to finding it a touching love story of two charmingly f’ed-up individuals.

Recommend a Book, Movie, Album That Affected How You See the World

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Last year on my birthday (August 15) I asked people to recommend a book or movie that really made them think, and had an impact on their life. I read about 10-15 of the recommended books, which were excellent. Some of the ones I remember off the top off my head are listed below.

So, again, this year, as a hello/present, I’d love to get a recommendation here (or preferably on my facebook) for a book (or movie or music album) that you read / watched / listened to in the past that really made you think, or even changed the way you view the world. It would mean a lot to me. Thanks guys.

Book recommendations I read from last year (and still remember) are:

  • “Shambhala: Sacred Path of the Warrior”
  • “God Delusion” by Dawkins
  • “Reading Turgenev” by Trevor
  • “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien
  • “All Quiet on the Western Front” (finally)
  • “Down and Out in Paris and London” by Orwell
  • “Ham on Rye” by Bukowski
  • “Cod” by Kurlansky
  • “Catch-22″ (finally)
  • “A Short History of Nearly Everything” by Bryson

There are many book recommendation that I haven’t gotten to but will definitely read soon:

  • “Stalin: Court of the Red Czar”
  • “The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia”
  • “Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”
  • “The Culture Struggle” by Michael Parenti
  • “The Power of One” by Courtenay

And many more that I’m forgetting now, but have it written down at work. Thanks again, it’s remarkable how many intelligent people I know, and also how many exceptional books are out there. Constantly reading, learning, thinking is essential. I believe that a life of inquiry is a life worth living.

True Grit: Suspension of Disbelief

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I don’t seem to be able to enjoy science fiction and superhero movies because in those cases I just can’t “achieve” suspension of disbelief. Basically, it’s what most people do when the story involves supernatural elements. You have to assume that dudes in skin-tight spandex costumes can indeed fly and/or shoot spiderwebs from their wrists. If you can’t easily assume that, then I don’t think you can enjoy the movie / book.

I’m not criticizing the many people that do enjoy these genres. The reason I’m writing this post is because for some reason I can achieve suspension of disbelief in the world of Tolkien (ogres, goblins, dragons, mages, etc). Moreover, I enjoy the hell out of the historically-absurd genre of westerns or the Clint Eastwood-style film. “Go ahead make my day” has never seemed cheesy to me. Why do I have this double standard in my brain? Star Wars is arguably a lot more realistic than Lord of the Rings, and yet the former is a lot cheesier to me than the latter. Like most things, it probably has to do with my upbringing, and the dozens of computer games I played as a kid that were based in Tolkien’s world. It surprises me that no matter how many Nietzsche, Camus, Kafka, Dostoevsky books I read, I can still enjoy The Lord of the Rings.

I’ve noticed that these “suspension of disbelief” genres have gotten less cheesy over the years. The superhero movies now have darker human drama and character development, and westerns are no longer over the top with Arnold Swartznegger style one-liners. A perfect example of that is True Grit, a recent remake of a 1969 classic. Though Jeff Bridges will always be The Dude to me, he does an incredible job of playing a drunken badass, the opposite of Clint Eastwood in the best possible way: