#3- Stanley Kubrick Text

Stanley Kubrick is widely considered one of, if not the greatest American filmmakers of all time. I certainly agree with this assessment. His films are filled with wild images. He was truly the first visual genius of all film. He used his camera like a demented painter would use his brush. He never would submit to the studios. So, let's take a journey through some of his films, and examine a master's legacy.

Spartikus- The best gladiator film of all time. Kubrick disowned the film, because of studio interference, but that does not change the fact that it is an amazing piece of art.

Dr. Stangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb- The political satire to end all political satires. Dr. Stangelove contains so many great comedic sequences, it's hard to deny it's greatness.

2001: A Space Oddysey- The most beautiful film of all time. The silent first 20 minutes is a perfect blend of visuals and music.

A Clockwork Orange- My personal favorite Kubrick film, A Clockwork Orange is a demented, violent vision of dystopia. Malcom McDowell is amazing in his role.

The Shining- The gold standard of horror. Many tell me that they were terrified by Nicholson in his greatest performance. (I've never really been scared by a film.)

Full Metal Jacket- The amazing contrast between the first half of this film and the second half is so perfect. The first half is funnier than most comedies that are produced today. The second half is one of the most haunting visions of Vietnam on film.


As for the films I have not covered, I have either not seen them, or, in the case of Eyes Wide Shut, I feel the need to reassess it. Stanley Kubrick died on March 7, 1999. His unfinished project, A.I. Artificial Intelligence was taken up by Steven Spielberg and released in 2001. It was an underrated film that too many compared to Kubrick. It was a worthy obituary to Stanley Kubrick, who is truly the greatest American director of all time.

#3- Stanley Kubrick AUDIO

#4- Martin Scorsese Text

Martin Scorsese. Any list without him is pretty much a joke, right? Scorsese is the second greatest American director of all time. (There's a little hint for my top 3) He works ridiculously well with actors. The fact that the man never won an Oscar is the third saddest Academy letdown of all time. It's one of the main reasons I don't take them seriously anymore. Anyway, let us dive in.

Mean Streets- Landmark independent film. It of course, set up his stunning actor-director relationship with Robert De Niro.

Taxi Driver- To take an excert from Ebert's City of God review: One of the best movies you'll EVER see! De Niro plays Travis Bickle with raving brilliance.

Raging Bull- THE best sports movie ever. Of course, Raging Bull isn't about the sport of boxing, it's about the characters, and at that it is quite possibly in the top 99.9th percentile of all films.

The Color of Money- No sequel to come nearly 20 years after the original film has any right to be as good as this.

Goodfellas- What hasn't been said about this film? It is just as good as you've heard, of course. It boasts tons of great performances. Most notable of which are De Niro, Liota, and Pesci.

Cape Fear- I'll say something simalar to what I said about Color of Money. No remake of such a good film deserves to be this amazing.

Casino- Wonderful. Why hasn't Scorsese worked with De Niro since?

Gangs of New York- Underrated masterpiece. Daniel Day-Lewis gives an amazing performance as Bill the Butcher.

The Aviator- DiCaprio gives his best performance since Titanic. His manic portrayal of Howard Hughes deserves an infinite stream of praise.

There we go. Scorsese's upcoming film, The Departed, comes out at the end of the year. I don't know about you but I can't wait!

A Slight Detour

#4- Martin Scorsese AUDIO

#5- Terry Gilliam Text

Terry Gilliam is one of the most visionary filmmakers working today. From his work with Monty Python, all the way throught to The Brothers Grimm, Gilliam has contributed his unique visual storytelling to both American and British cinema.

Time Bandits- One of my favorite comedies. Probably the film that most resembles his Python work.

Brazil- Definatly his best film, this comedic take on 1984 is better than either of the 1984 films.

The Fisher King- Robin Williams gives what is easily his best performance in this allegorical masterpiece.

12 Monkeys- THE best time travel film, besides maybe the first Back to the Future, 12 Monkeys boasts a pair of great performances from Brad Pitt (who had a really good year in '95 with this and Seven) and Bruce Willis.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas- My least favorite Gilliam film, Fear and Loathing is still an excellent adaptation of the so-called "unadaptable novel." Depp and Del Toro give amazing performances as usual.

The Brothers Grimm- The most underrated of Gilliam's films is the best way to describe The Brothers Grimm. Other ways to describe it would be "fun," "light-hearted," and, in many fans' eyes, "Very Un-Gilliam like." Many say that Gilliam is being to light with this film. Have none of them seen Time Bandits?

There were a few films that I didn't cover: The Adventures of Baron Manchusen (Haven't seen it) and of course, the Python films. (I will be doing a piece on those after the top 10 directors is done.) Number One is ever-approaching!

#5- Terry Gilliam AUDIO

#6- Steven Spielberg Text

Steven Spielberg is the best director of popcorn movies, period. He has also directed serious affair, of course. His career started in television, then blew up with Jaws. If you want to hear my opinion on every one of his films, listen to the audioblog, but here, I will give you two or three of his best films from each decade.

Jaws- If this can be considered a horror film, it is one of, if not the best.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind- This is the best alien movie ever (Though, it is rivaled by Alien, Aliens, and E.T.) ANY cut is good.

Raiders of the Lost Ark- The greatest earthly action-adventure film of all time. Both sequels are excellent, but nothing stands up to Raiders.

E.T.- Excellent film. It used to be the highest grossing movie of all time for good reason. Watch the theatrical cut, though.

Jurassic Park- A wondrous film that is STILL amazing to this day. The special effects hold up, and it is one of my favorite adventure films.

Schindler's List- This is Spielberg's best. All kinds of praise has been dumped on this film. Just go to it's Rotten Tomatoes page.

Saving Private Ryan- Great war film. It's the best World War II movie.

Minority Report- One of Spielberg's most underrated film, Minority Report represents the second best Phillip K. Dick adapatation to the screen. (Blade Runner being the first)

Munich- In Spielberg's top 5 best films. This should win Best Picture at the Oscars, but it won't.

There you go. We're about to crack the top 5! I will try to post both audio and text for #5 today. Check you later.

#7- Sergio Leone Text

I'm sorry I posted #6, before I posted the text for Mr. Leone.
Leone is an amazing director. You can see his direct influence on filmmakers like Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. His style is amazing. His wide shots are like beautiful paintings. Everything he does makes him one of the best.
A Fistful of Dollars- A very good western remake of Yojimbo, one of Akira Kurosawa's many masterpieces. While not as good as Yojimbo, nor it's followups, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, It is still the first western that I can remember watching, so it has a special place in my heart.
For a Few Dollars More- An amazingly superior sequel.
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly- One of the best westerns (It's a solid fourth), this film capped off Leone's Dollars Trilogy with the best of the series.
Once Upon A Time in the West- This and The Wild Bunch are the greatest westerns of all time, no question. Took what was great about the Dollars Trilogy and at least quadrupled it.
Once Upon A Time in America- This 229 minute opus could have it's own article. Leone's only well-known non-western film, Once Upon A Time in America utilizes every second of celluloid perfectly.
There you go, another director, getting closer to that number one man.

#6- Steven Spielberg AUDIO

News and the like

#7- Sergio Leone AUDIO

#8- Oliver Stone Text

Oliver Stone is uneven. I'm the first to admit this, but when he is good, he is flat-out fantastic. Period. Here's what I consider to be his five best films:

Platoon- The best Vietnam film. Although challenged by Apocolypse Now and The Deer Hunter, Platoon is great. Charlie Sheen gives his best performance. (I made a mistake in the audioblog when I said he was best in Wall Street.)

Wall Street- An amazing look into the dirty world of the stock market. Martin Sheen's famous "Greed is Good" speech is priceless.

Born on the Fourth of July- Tom Cruise gives the second best performance of his career (the first being Magnolia) in the second part in Stone's so-called "Vietnam Trilogy." While not as good as Platoon, it is much better than the third part, Heaven and Earth.

The Doors- I completely forgot to mention this in the audioblog. This is a great film. Even if you don't like the Doors' music, this is a masterful film with a great lead performance by Val Kilmer.

JFK- A very cotroversial film, that I love and should be given more credit as one of the best films of the 90's.

There you have it. While Stone has had terrible films (Natural Born Killers, Alexander), and mediocre ones (Nixon), he is still my eighth favorite director.

#8- Oliver Stone AUDIO

#9- David Fincher Text

David Fincher. Director of Seven and Fight Club. While those films do represent his best work, many don't seem to recognize his other three films. As many know, Fincher came from music videos. He may be the only music video director to acctually become an excellent director of features. Many of these directors favor ridicuously quick shots (Average shot length on a Michael Bay picture: 2 seconds), overly fast pacing, and style over story. Fincher on the other hand has a much slower pace, and also favors style and story equally. His films look great, but their stories are equally amazing. I will look at all five of his films here:

Alien 3- Easily the most underrated of Fincher's catolog, Alien 3 gets a bad reputation for not being as good as Alien and Aliens. If I look at it that way, then, yes, Alien 3 is the weakest Alien film (I don't agknowledge Alien: Ressurection or Alien Vs. Predator) But if I look at it alone, It's a good film. It is not a great film.

Seven- Everyone knows what this is about. The moral killer who murders according to the seven deadly sins. A very intriguing concept that could have been mishandled if in the hands of a different director. Fincher directs Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, and Gweneth Paltrow perfectly in one of the best films of the 90's.

The Game- Certainly Fincher's weakest film, The Game deals with a ridiculous plot. If any other director, or other actors were attached to this film, it would be a ridiculously convoluted mess. It's still a convoluted mess, but at least you don't realize it as you're watching it.

Fight Club- My second favorite film from the 1990's (Pulp Fiction being the first) Fight Club is one of the few movies that exceeds its source material in almost every way. I loved the book, but the movie takes the plot in a better direction after you find out that Ed Norton IS Tyler Durden, but I digress...

Panic Room- A dissapointing followup to Fight Club, but that doesn't mean anything. This is still a great film. Jodi Foster is excellent.

There you go. Upcoming Fincher projects include Zodiac, a film about the Zodiac killer from the 60's, and Benjamin Button, in which he reteams with Brad Pitt (or so I've heard.) And now, I leave you.

#9- David Fincher AUDIO

#10- Sam Peckinpah Text

Hello, Tim here, and as the title and the picture tell you, my tenth favorite director is Sam Peckinpah. He has a great sense of style, but also has a great sense of story. He made many films, but I will focus on three in this piece.

The Wild Bunch- This is quite possibly the greatest western of all time. It is challenged only by Once Upon A Time In The West and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It's very different from other westerns. It's about the end of the old west. It is set and locked in that time period. That's why news of remaking it depresses me. Remember how The Getaway turned out?

The Getaway- One of the best action films of all time. Steve McQueen is one of my favorite actors for this type of film. (I'll do a post on him sometime.) The action, the acting, and obviously, the directing is top notch in this movie.

Pat Garret and Billy the Kid- I love this movie. It's one of my other favorite westerns. Everything, the Bob Dylan soundtrack, the characters, the acting, perfect. Apparently the new 2005 cut is terrible, thought, so stick with the original.

So, there you go. Sam Peckinpah is one of the best action directors of all time. In a few moments, I'll post the audio editon for #9? Who will it be?

"Censors tend to do what only psychotics do: they confuse reality with illusion."
- David Cronenberg

Why??

#10- Sam Peckinpah AUDIO

Blog news, blah.

Top 10 Directors Intro, Maison Ikkoku, and yet more musings.

Over the next ten days, I am going to reveal my ten favorite directors. I will go from 10 to 1. I know nobody's yet reading this blog, so I have a different reason why I'm doing it day by day. I want to give each director essentially a short essay, and I have to think about it more and put together a good article on each. This list may come as diverse to many who eventually read it. I have big hollywood directors, independent directors (well kinda), and foreign film directors. I like all kinds of films, and all kinds of directors. First, I'll give some favorites that probably won't make the list:
Wong Kar-Wai (In the Mood For Love, 2046, Chungking Express, Happy Together)
Riddley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator)
Orson Welles (Citizen Kane, F for Fake, Touch of Evil)
Spike Jonze (Being John Malcovich, Adaptation)
George Romero (Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Martin)
Roman Polanski (Knife in the Water, Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown, The Pianist)
There's more but those are the ones that come to mind.
Now on to other things,

I've been reading this manga series, Maison Ikkoku, which is written and drawn by Rumiko Takahashi of Ranma 1/2 and Inu Yasha fame. The series just recently ended in America with Volume 15. It's been coming out over the past 2 1/2 years, which isn't nearly as long a time as the series takes place over (6-8 years is my estimation), but it gives you a good feeling that these characters have been together for a long time. That's the advantage of reading any comic series as it comes out. Wash away any expectations of something like Inu Yasha. This is much different. It's possibly the most realistic portrayal of a love triangle I've ever read in manga.
The series is about a young man named Yusaku Godai, who moves into a trashy boarding house (Maison Ikkoku, hense the title) just before a new manager comes in. The manager's name is Kyoko Otanashi. Godai soon falls in love with her, but then learns that she is a widow. There is also Shun Mitaka, Kyoko's Tennis coach, who also pines for her affection.
Other interesting characters include just about every one of Godai's housemates, Godai's friend, Sakamoto, Kyoko's parents, Godai's other love interst, Kozue... There are many.
The series comes to a very satisfying and fullfilling end. I wasn't asking what happened next. It was the perfect ending.

A few other things:
I will probably do a top ten for actors (all genders, I don't separate them), writers(screenwriters, comic writers, and novelists), and others in similar fashions, so look for those.

And now I leave you.

"Panic. It crept up my spine like the first rising vibes of an acid frenzy. All these horrible realities began to dawn on me. Here I was. Alone in Las Vegas. Completely twisted on drugs. No cash. No story for the magazine. I didn't even know who'd won the race. I wonder how Ray Joe Alljer would've handled this situation?"
-Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Limited Releases...and other musings.

My most antcipated film of December 2005 was Munich. Chances are, if it's Spielberg, I want to be there. In the TV spots for the film, it stated that the film would come out on December 23rd. I marked my calendar. I would be at Tinseltown theater in Erie, PA that night.
In these TV spots, it said nothing to the effect of, "December 23rd in Select Cities!" I've grown accostumed to this. Erie never recieves limited release films, but, because it didn't specify that it would only be playing in select cities, and it's Spielberg, I just assumed that it would be here. Then, when I found out that it wouldn't open wide until January 6th, it pissed me off.
There is just one example from last year. I can name a dozen more films that I wanted to see, but couldn't because the film was only in New York and Los Angeles. Copote. Good Night and Good Luck. Broken Flowers. Match Point. The list goes on...
Now, there are venues to see these films in Erie. I just had to look around. There's the Guelcher Film Series at Mercyhurst College. (I saw Broken Flowers there.) There's also the "Great Escape" film series that just started up at this new theater in a nearby town, Meadville. Although, I'd love to go to these more often, they are somewhat difficult to get to. (especially Meadville.)
From what I hear about these new digital projectors, limited release films could easily benefit from this. Since digital projectors don't use the traditional "reels," I'd imagine the format is easier and cheaper to produce. Studios will be more willing to send out 1500 copys of Copote if they know they can make back the money for the actual print of the film after two ticket sales and not 100. (I may have the numbers off, I might do more research and do a followup to this peice.)
So in closing, I'd just like to see the next Woody Allen film at a movie theater that I go to all the time.


For those of you who couldn't get the audio thing to work, these are my ten favorite movies. (no decriptions.)
1. Star Wars Trilogy
2. Seven Samurai
3. Lord of the Rings Trilogy
4. Star Wars- Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
5. Pulp Fiction
6. Rear Window
7. Raiders of the Lost Ark
8. Dark City
9. Casablanca
10. Dawn of the Dead
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Once Upon A Time in the West, The Wild Bunch, Reservoir Dogs, American Graffiti, Ran, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Clerks, El Mariachi, many more...

Also check out these sites:
http://www.hollywoodsaloon.com- This is a podcast that I listen to. It's great fun and very informative.
http://criterionmaster.blogspot.com- This is my friend, Dan's blog.
http://theforce.net- Big Star Wars Fansite.
http://swendirect.com- Star Wars Podcast.
http://toonzone.net- Great cartoon website.
http://comingsoon.net- This is where I go for movie news and the like.
http://imdb.com- You all know what this is.

But I especially reccomend The Hollywood Saloon. They need more listeners!
Check you later...

"I steal from every movie ever made." -Quentin Tarantino

Top 10 Films Audio

Well, hello.

Well, I was never a fan of "blogs," but I started one, because I wanted to see some focus in them. A lot of blogs will have posts like, "I took a shower today." I think these are needless. Does anybody really care that you took a shower today? I know I don't.
This "blog" as stated in the description, will focus on entertainment, mainly movies. This is one of the few things I have great knowledge of, so as Mark Twain once said, "Write what you know about." You won't find idiotic internet slang here, such as LOL, LMAO, ect.
My name is Tim May, hence the cheesy sign-off, "Jammaster May." I was born in Springfield, MA, moved to Pennsylvania, and am currently living in Erie, PA. I'm currently attending high school. I hope to become a good filmmaker, and am currently working on a few short films with my friend, Dan. Other than my films, this is the last you'll hear about my personal life. Those kind of blogs are the kind that I hate.
I'm going to try to update this every day or every two days. I'll pick a topic in entertainment, and write about it. Occasionally, I will talk about films I'm working on. Many of the early posts will be things like "Top 10's" of various things, such as movies, bands, books, directers, ect. I've heard of this "audio-blog" feature, which I might take advantage of. Once I start that, I'll probably do it about once a week.
Anyway, I'm always going to close each post with a cool quote, so here's the first:
"A day is a span of time no one is wealthy enough to waste."-A Fortune Cookie