Film Review: The Neon Demon

"She's a diamond among a sea of glass."—Alessandro Nivola
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There is an industry for beauty, and people are commodities. Many films have explored the exploitation of young people by businesses, and they are often bleak, compelling tales. The Neon Demon goes through the same motions as Black Swan and Mulholland Drive, but it reaches a far more unpredictable conclusion.

True to the standard of other films by Nicholas Winding Refn, the film drips in exquisite style. This is one of those odd films where there's a lot of white space in between the scant pieces of dialogue. Very little is expressed or told to the audience. Instead, the whole story is shown through the meticulous unraveling of expressionistic imagery. Some scenes go by without explanation and don't really fit in the scant plotline. The film merely paints its picture and lets the audience determine what's going in in the characters' heads and what's really going on with the story.

I went into this film expecting a pretty standard tale of a young girl breaking into the fashion biz and becoming corrupted, and perhaps even broken, from it. I believe most of that still applies—the bulk of the film's conflict is an extremely subtle rivalry between Jessie and all the other established models, who recognize her potential through her beauty and see it as a threat. Just when you think you have the movie figured out, everything suddenly changes in the last act. It hits with all the subtlety of a knife thrust, before the final scenes reveal that this isn't your typical diva drama—it's a horror movie in disguise, and its has its own set of unspoken rules. Thus, the film overall is a slow-burning build to a massive sucker-punch. The ultimate point of it all is not so much the corruption or pretension of the business, as I initially predicted—this is more of a modern-day fable warning us of all the viciousness and bloodthirst that could exist in any industry. For the world of fashion, it goes hand-in-hand with the exploration of what beauty means and how far people will go to achieve its optimum peak.

The funny thing about a film harping on the threat of beauty is that the film itself is as beautiful as they come. Photography is top-notch, with purposeful staging and composition resembling a Kubrick movie. Editing is very solid, juxtaposing images in a way that allows viewers to connect the thought process without exposition. Acting is great: Elle Fanning is lovely and nuanced in her role. Most of the other characters are menacing to some degree (including Keanu Reeves, who seems to be playing the biggest jerk in the world). Writing is interesting—it offers enough so that the plot can be followed (much easier than Refn's previous film, Only God Forvies), but still leaves so much mystery open. It's a tough balance that will entice some viewers and leave others confused. This production uses fabulous sets, props, and costumes—they all give the film visually-punchy textures and patterns. Lighting is often very vivid (especially during a few scenes illuminated by strobe lighting). Music by Cliff Martinez is very evocative—modern and electronic, but with a kind of new-wave class, just like the movie itself.

I went into this film expecting a pretty standard tale of a model's rise and fall—I came out realizing it's more of a puzzle with more aspects of a monster movie than a mere drama. I knew going in that this would be a strange, glacial experience that requires more focus than usual. I personally found the film as thought-provoking as it is visually stunning. I expect most other viewers may be confused, upset, or unimpressed. Caution is recommended.

4/5

Book Review: Catcher in the Rye (JD Salinger)

The teenage years can be a weird time for anybody.  Many stories seek to capture the feelings of loneliness, confusion, angst, depression, and restlessness that everybody feels in these uncertain phases of life.  The Catcher in the Rye stands as one of the best and most successful, because it captures all of this in one tight, punchy package, and the experience of reading it is quite the trip.

Through the narrative eyes of Holden Caulfield, the story can come off as totally random.  It's all about Holden's wanderings from Pencey Preparatory school to the streets of New York City, where he sees and experiences a number of things that continuously alienates him.  It's a pretty bizarre series of encounters, which includes a lot of horseplay, bar-hopping, and interactions with particularly seedy areas of the city.  It might seem like a weird, plotless mess, but the characters and themes keep it all glued together as a cohesive plot:  this is not so much about "plot" as it is about Holden reflecting, and ultimately discovering, his own place in the world.  Through all the flashbacks and all the people he meets, he eventually finds something that inspires happiness in a world full of "phonies." The journey to discover what it means to be the "catcher in the rye" is what this story is all about.

Even though the book covers a lot of ground between covering Holden's past, present, and future, it is a short and incredibly characteristic.  The whole thing is written in a very casual style, using Holden's voice and all his mannerisms and colloquialisms to place the reader in his shoes and make us understand all his thoughts and feelings on an intuitive level.  Because of this, the book is not only consistently entertaining, it's also highly immersive and it succeeds at eliciting sympathy for the character.  It's just as evocative as it is easy to read.

In spite of everything, JD Salinger's prose is quite brilliant in its own ways.  He makes great use of language - the best and worst of it - to bring the character and story to life, and to make sure we can follow it to its end.  The book entails some intriguing metaphors (especially in its title).  Dialogue seems quite authentic.  The language overall can be rather uncompromising, especially in the liberal way it uses curse words, but it fits the character and story pretty aptly.

The Catcher in the Rye is an interesting, bittersweet classic full of character and themes that are worth reading.  It deserves to be read at least once.

4.5/5

 

Book Review: Eyes of the Dragon (Stephen King)

Stephen King may be best known for his plethora of quality horror writing, but with his early novel The Eyes of the Dragon, the man attempted to deviate into the realms of high fantasy.  The book takes place in a kingdom of King's own making, complete with legends of dragons and magic.  Some things remain dark and wicked, but it's hardly scary; this is fantasy of the purest sort.

Most of the book is breezy and easy to digest, thanks mostly to King's own ethos.  He tells the story quite literally in a storyteller-type of voice, leading the reader headlong into the lore and details of the world of Delain.  I wouldn't say it's a perfect experience though; as common with King's stories, he sometimes spends pages and pages describing minute details, and it can be a bit tiresome in some scenes.  Fortunately, it's not quite as laborious as other books I've read of his, and it is perfectly-readable all the same.

The story is a simple one:  it focuses on two princes, whose father is slain under diabolical circumstances, which causes one prince to become wrongfully imprisoned and the other to become an inept king against his will.  With this setup, the book has plenty of thrilling parts, as Peter is forced to stage a daring escape from prison, and other characters gather to confront the story's villain.  There are a few things I could nitpick about; the story goes through a pretty long and random introduction, and thanks to King's narration, he tends to spoil the plot twists well in advance.  You'll always know who the villain is and you'll always know that King Roland dies eventually, and I believe it kills some potential suspense.  However, King does lay out this story with a lot of nuance and attention to thematic detail, going so far as giving significant meaning to a lot of different elements (including napkins, of all things).

As I mentioned repeatedly, King uses a pretty blatant storyteller's voice in this book, and I believe it's a hit-and-a-miss.  The wording is often good, but I find it weird how he occasionally breaks the fourth wall by referencing himself as the storyteller (in our world nonetheless, causing him to draw parallels between modern things and fantasy things, which I found a bit distracting), and by addressing the reader directly (which I'm not necessarily a fan of).  However, I can't deny that the prose does lend the book a level of authenticity that befits the story, and it is elegant most of the time.  Quality illustrations add to the experience pretty well.

The Eyes of the Dragon is a simple story, but it is elegant and told in an interesting way.  It's clear to me that it's an experimental work, featuring some elements (and even characters) that would influence other works (such as my favorite, The Stand, and The Dark Tower series).  For such an experiment, I think King handled the fantasy storytelling pretty well, and fantasy fans should find this rewarding.

4/5 (Experience:  Good | Story:  Good | Book:  Pretty Good)

Book Review: Foundation (Isaac Asimov)

If you know sci-fi, chances are good that you would have at least heard of Asimov's Foundation series; it is one of the man's most celebrated works.  The first, original book in the series dives headlong into the distant future of our galaxy, which is turned into a sprawling space-faring empire.  The novel presents the interesting premise that the Empire is collapsing, and it's up to a group of scientists to lay down the foundation of a new era on a couple of backwater planets.  Upon doing so, the Foundation encounters one crisis after another, the resolutions of which will shape the way the future inevitably unfolds.

To be fair, the book has a very interesting premise, and it's the politics and social themes that make it worthwhile.  The story borrows much from historical references, such as the fall of the Roman Empire, to illustrate that social ruin can occur at any era.  The problems of the Galactic Empire in Foundation are pretty simple - the Empire simply spread itself too thin and was too centralized.  The Foundation provided a solution for long-term sustainment, not with the benefit of rich resources, but with the creation of a new religion that ultimately wins over the population and helps the Foundation resolve each new crisis.  Thus, the book provides interesting themes worth exploring, regarding the relationship between society, religion, and science.

Unfortunately, despite having a great setup and interesting content, I found the book's emphasis on politics to be extremely dry.  The book covers hundreds of years of events, so characters tend to come and go without receiving much development or investment.  There is no pathological or emotional anchor involved with the story to make me care for the events, outside of the social aspects.

I have no complaints about the writing; Asimov's prose is to-the-point and has decent dialogue.  This book doesn't have much description for the settings, which can make it a little harder to visualize, but it does paint a few fantastic planetscapes.  I personally would have appreciated more exposition with the events, since the story seems to jump ahead with little indication of what's exactly going on; you have to read the dialogue to get the gist of things.

Foundation is a book worth reading, so long as you don't mind a story that's politically-dense.  As a highly-tutted sci-fi classic, sci-fi fans should give it a try.

3/5 (Experience:  Poor | Story:  Pretty Good | Book:  Pretty Good)

Film Review: Mad Max

"You and me, Max, we're gonna give them back their heroes!" - Roger Ward
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Max is a cop in an undetermined future, where law and order approaches its breaking point and the world is starting to become overrun by violent, anarchic gangs. Max becomes mad when these gangs harass him and push him to the edge. When the madness takes over, Max will not stop until he runs down all his enemies.

Right from the start, Mad Max establishes itself as a thrilling new breed of dystopian sci-fi with a frenetic highs-speed car chase. Car chases is the big draw that would persist through the whole film and in its famous sequels. In the case of this film, the chases are pretty simple, but they are well-filmed to emphasize speed, destruction, and violence. The vehicular carnage is often awe-inspiring, but in between the action, the film continues to captivate with its hard-edged portrayal of crazy villains and tormented heroes. The film's last half exudes suspense as the villains hone in on Max and his family, before the film wraps up with a wicked sense of justice.

To be honest, the film never was completely enthralling to me personally. At first glance, the film felt rather slow, drab, and disconnected. Only on repeat viewings would I find the film so engaging; the film's appeal ultimately hinges on how well you can relate to the characters, the crumbling world they live in, and the film's style. In time, I found myself becoming more and more enamored by the characters and the film overall.

The film embodies the structure and form of a typical American western, and the characters fulfill familiar archetypes of various heroes and villains. As such, the story is made to be pretty straightforward, but it implicitly carries themes of social decay, and the conflict between civility and barbarism. These themes fit into the setting perfectly; it's a bizarre post-modern world where things appear to be in shambles, but the last vestiges of society linger. In this world, the film is ultimately all about a man gradually losing his humanity, until he crosses a certain threshold and becomes the very monster he always feared. The film's first half tends to be rather unfocused, but the events of the second half become much more engaging; it builds up to the compelling transformation of "Mad Max," so filled with tragedy and rage.

The film captures this tale with very superb photography. Camera angles are really great, and the film is very concisely-edited. Max was Mel Gibson's breakout role, and he pulled it off really well, becoming a hero who looks cool but also elicits empathy. I developed quite the soft spot for Joanne Samuel's performance, which is tenderly-emotional but still well-grounded. Aside from her, everybody's performances (even Mel's) tends to get pretty nutty and over-the-top at times, but it fits in with the film's anarchic view of the near-future. Writing gets the job done. This production didn't have much of a budget, so many of the props and costumes were done on the cheap. Can't say I'm a fan of the police car designs, or how some scenes seemed to be cluttered with modern-looking items. Fortunately, the film's budgetary limitations rarely show, as the film makes apt use of real locations and real materials to bring its scappy view of the future to life. Brian May's music score is really decent.

Even though future Mad Max films would improve on budget and ambition, this original film kicked it all off with a simple, but emotional and powerful tale, of a man succumbing to chaos. Even though I found the movie a bit dull at first glance, I wound up loving it, especially in the way it crafts its story with a few simple images that gives it am emotional punch. Among those images, the scene with a single shoe bouncing on the open road as the bikers roar by is still one that exudes tragedy and desperation, and it's one of those scenes that hits me the hardest. For all those well-crafted moments, the film is worth seeing at least once.

4/5 (Experience: Good | Content: Good | Film: Very Good)

Film Review: Ex Machina

"Isn't it strange, to create something that hates you?" -  Alicia Vikander
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How can you tell if an intelligence machine actually has a consciousness, the way a human being does? The Turing Test is a scientific method developed to answer this question by, simply, interacting with a machine in conversation to see if a human being can be fooled.  Chatterbots have recently made waves in this field, especially with the news of Eugene Goostman personality, which allegedly won the University of Reading's 2014 Turing Test.  The film Ex Machina goes a step further, to assert that an AI might be capable of such human-like development that they can fool us in more frightening ways.

This movie is pretty much all about two dudes and a robot, in a high-tech home in the middle of nowhere. You might think this movie will get boring fast with such a limited cast and scope. Even though the film suffers a little drag, there's always tension between the characters that culminates into palpable suspense. The film's greatest strength is in subtly creeping insinuations into the audience's heads, getting them to sympathize with certain characters and making them believe that the plot is heading in one direction, before pulling out some twists that challenge our perception and biases. The finale is one diabolical turn of events with potentially chilling implications.

Ultimately, it's the story and its ideas that make the whole affair interesting. Characters aren't particular standouts, but there's enough dimensionality in them to drive the plot dynamics and dig up fascinating themes worth thinking about. In the context of AI development, the film successfully evokes thought concerning the nature of consciousness and what could happen if it's put into a machine. Would a conscious robot be capable of feeling love? How would it view the world? Can it be considered a real person? Above all, how far will it go to preserve its own life? The film explores the best and worst of this speculative technology.

The film is crafted with decent photography, with some shots that are brilliantly-composed and spectacular. Sharp editing, combined with the music and sound design, help make this an even more evoking experience, especially in the last act. Acting is generally good; Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac show appropriate skill and nuance for their given characters, but it's Alicia Vikander that dazzles the most through her combination of expression and movement. I also thought Sonoya Mizuno was hot. Writing is quite high-brow, and is good overall. This production makes excellent use of its limited sets, props, costumes, and special effects, and they all look fantastic. The rock and electronic music score by Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow is a thing of beauty too, and accentuates the film perfectly.

Ex Machina is a twisty thriller that offers plenty to think about. Sci-fi fans might get the most out of it, especially if you have an interest in pondering the implications of artificial intelligence. It's worth seeing at least once.

4.5/5 (Experience: Good | Content: Very Good | Film: Very Good)

Novel: Rider of the White Horse Now Available!

Rider of the White Horse was the first novel I've ever written.  It was published in 2002 by Authorhouse (formerly 1st Library), and is now being prepared in a new edition for CreateSpace.

It is now available and can be purchased on CreateSpace or Amazon.

Synopsis:
The Earth becomes a wasteland, following an onslaught of nuclear war and environmental disaster.  Most of the world is conquered by the mysterious Klokan Empire.  With advanced technology and an army of clone soldiers, they systematically exterminate all remaining human beings in a terrifying holocaust.

One clone soldier becomes gifted with an insight and spirit that sets him apart from the others, and he sees the Klokan Empire for the evil it is.  He defects and becomes Kurt Stone, a deadly agent for the last human nation on Earth.  He turns the tide of every battle, pushing the Klokan Empire back while confronting political schemes and civil unrest.

As Kurt's battles take him across the world and beyond, he follows in the prophecy of the Rider of the White Horse:  a warrior who will defeat evil and save the human race.

This account of post-apocalyptic war features big-scale battles, explosive action, suspenseful drama, endearing romance, and gripping emotions.  This grand tale is now presented in an all-new edition, with improved quality and new notes on the creation of this epic adventure.

Background:
In the 8th grade, I came up with my first truly original novel idea.  It came to me when the class went on a field trip to the Anne Frank exhibit in York.  I was (am) interested in WWII history, and I knew all about the holocaust.  In fact, I had the sobering experience of listening to holocaust survivors speaking at our school.  But it wasn’t until this field trip that I learned of the term “Aryan,” and realized that Nazi Germany was basically a huge-scale (and very scary) eugenics program. 

The biggest lesson about the holocaust was that it happened once, and history can always repeat itself.  Next time, it could be worse yet.  I had a scary notion I had that I was compelled to explore:  if Hitler had cloning technology, then he could have abused it to create his “perfect” race, and he could have truly taken over the world.  The genocide, and the purposeful reshaping of the human race, would have been terrible.  I suddenly had scary visions of a post-nuclear-war landscape, where clone armies were marching around and slaughtering every living thing.

My first few drafts for this story were pretty awkward; it’s hard to find the right starting point and the right voice sometimes.  In those first attempts, I approached my ideas in a straightforward fashion, using literal Nazis as the villains.  I took a lesson from existing science fiction, and made an attempt to veil Nazism with other names and concepts.  Thus, I made them into the Klokan Empire.  The term Klokan was originally a name I designated for a race of aliens, who would have had boney claws and spikes sticking out of their skin.  Since I abandoned those story ideas, however, I cannibalized the name “Klokan” for this story.

Something was still missing, however.  A certain theme, and plot structure, was lacking, and it got to the point where I didn’t know how to proceed with this story.  One Easter, I was reading the Book of Revelation, just out of interest, and that’s when I came across the passage regarding the Rider of the White Horse.  Many of the passages in Revelations interested me, for their metaphorical ideas and intense imagery.  When I read this specific chapter, I realized that it could align perfectly with my story, and I sought to marry them together.  I found ways to connect characters and ideas from the book in with Revelations, to the best of my ability.

From then on, the book pretty much wrote itself.  I barely even remember putting that much effort into it; you know something is good if you have fun doing it, and it all flies by without much struggle or second-guessing. 
It took about a year or two to draft this entire story, and it was all finished shortly after I graduated high school.

Publishing this story was another animal entirely, and I had absolutely no clue as to get any kind of professional writing career started.  When it came to querying or submitting works for commercial publishing, I was totally lost, I didn’t know where to start, and I never found the motivation to invest much research or effort into it.  After some brief research, however, I did come across some new Print-On-Demand companies, and felt they were easy and fairly risk-free.  I was sold on the concept of it, I went through the process, and I got this book published by 2002.

I made very few sales; probably 100 or so altogether.  Publishing was easy through these companies, but promoting these books was entirely up to the authors, and I was terrible at self-promotion.  I tried to host a book signing at the local library, but only had one person stop by.  In the end, it was just friends and family who invested in this book, and maybe a few random strangers.

What few readers I had before enjoyed the book, regardless of its issues.  Now that I’ve taken the time to fix up the wording and grammar, I expect that I’ll be happy and proud of this creation again, and can present it to willing readers with confidence.

Redux Edition:
Starting in 2012, I went through the whole text line-by-line to fix numerous issues with the text.  Most of the wording was re-arranged and re-written for better readability.  The text is no longer so plain and flat.  Redundancy is reduced, grammar mistakes are fixed, and the dialogue is sharper and flows better.  A few chapters were merged together, one scene was cut out, some scenes were made longer, and a few really cheesy parts were rewritten so they work better.  The whole thing is revamped so that it reads better and is more creditable.

In preparing for a new print edition of the book, some new notes were made outlining the book's creation and history (most of which is in this post anyway), and new cover art was made by artist Keyvan Ebrahimi.

Inspirations:
I was inspired by the various stories and films I was exploring at the time:  L. Ron Hubbard’s Battlefield Earth, James Bond movies, and the film Soldier, have all inspired this story.  The name Kurt Stone was inspired by the actor Kurt Russell.  To help visualize and design the various forts and bases that are attacked throughout the book, I designed them with a level editor for the video game Star Wars:  Dark Forces II:  Jedi Knight; doing so allowed me to map out exactly where these characters go and what they experience when traversing through the high-tech Klokan facilities.

There was some music that helped inspire me during the drafting and designing process.  In those days, the film scores for 1997's The Saint and GoldenEye were the biggest things I listened to; they were both quite moody and had a mystique to them, and Eric Serra's music in particular was very appropriately modern.  I discovered that certain CD-ROM video games had music tracks on them, so I listened to the Mechwarrior 2 music all the time; a lot of that has been inspiring for finding the right tone and atmosphere.  As time went on, I acquired more James Bond soundtracks - Tomorrow Never Dies and The World is Not Enough - and select songs, including Rob Dougan's "Clubbed to Death," which I first heard on a Nissan commercial and might be the song that I associate the most with this book.  Other fine songs that have inspired me include Rob Dougan's "Furious Angels," Dave Matthew Band's "When the World Ends," Moby's "Everloving," Sting's "A Thousand Years," Apollo 440's cover of "(Don't Fear) The Reaper," Billy Joel's "Leningrad," Live's "Forever May Not Be Long Enough," PPK's "21st Century," and most recently, Imagine Dragon's "Radioactive." A collection of this music can be heard on 8tracks.

In Conclusion:
The first time I do most anything is usually the worst.  It feels like I've spent more time and effort on this book than any other, because it came out so flawed on the first try, and I had to go back and fix some things.  Now that I've cleaned the work up, I feel more confident in presenting it to readers as a grand piece of post-apocalyptic adventure.  If you do order my book, I hope you'll enjoy it as is.

Film Review: π (Pi)

You might think a movie about numbers and math would be boring, but Pi is anything but. It is one trippy experience that mixes experimental expressions with a gritty neo-noir style to craft a sharp and punchy thriller that exudes paranoia.

The film's style is what makes it consistently engaging. It's a very stark and gritty black-and-white picture with a lot of intricate sets, unique photography, and snappy editing. It's almost on the same level as Eraserhead, but with a production that looks like the first half of The Matrix. It's a pretty cool way to take an otherwise uninteresting subject and make it presentable. As the film goes on, the character becomes a target by various people, and he goes on the run in some mildly satisfying chase scenes. It all builds up to a climax that will come off as bewildering and extreme.

The story's pretty simple: a bunch of people chase after one man who knows a special number. It is pretty novel to use a number as a plot device. What makes the story most interesting, however, is the subtext. The film draws strong parallels between mathematics, nature, and the man-made world, suggesting that through math and patterns, there is a correlation between order and chaos. This is what gives the plot its weight, and gives the characters a reason to struggle to figure out numbers. Fundamentally though, this is a story about a man gifted with great talents and insight, but descends into self-destructive madness due to the knowledge in his own head.

Darren Aronofsky's debut film is made with very vivid black-and-white photography and editing. He employs some hip-hop montages here and there (as he later does in Requiem for a Dream), and it looks great. Acting is pretty good from the cast, and the writing gets the job done. The narration is pretty slick. This production uses pretty interesting sets, props, costumes, and locales. Electronic music is used throughout the movie, with a lot of beat and energy, and it is really cool.

This film is pretty bizarre, but there is plenty to think about in this basic story and plenty to admire in the intense style. If you enjoy experimental films, then this should interest you.

4/5 (Experience: Good | Content: Good | Film: Very Good)

Film Review: American Sniper

It's easy to romanticize about soldiers, but snipers have their own unique and alluring shroud of mystique. Any gamer can tell you how cool it is to play Call of Duty and be the hotshot camping out on some rooftop picking off bad guys all day long. In films, you can look at Enemy at the Gates or Barry Pepper's character in Saving Private Ryan and marvel at a sniper's deadly prowess. Far be it for me to comment on what experiences soldiers of any kind go through, I have no doubt that the reality of being a sniper is nowhere near as glamorous as the media makes it out to be; it's a burdensome duty in which one has to take lives indiscriminately in order to save lives. I can't even imagine the stress of having to evaluate who lives and who dies - to include women and children - in the heat of the moment.

The deadliest marksman in US history - Chris Kyle - is the focus of this film: the real-life Navy SEAL who served four tours of duty in the Iraq war. The movie tracks his career across all four tours, with occasional breaks where he reunites with his wife and has difficulty adjusting to civilian life. Thus, the film dishes out two different conflicts: the fight against al-Qaeda on one hand, and the struggle to adjust to life after war on the other hand. Both narrative strands offer their share of compelling scenes; the combat is quite intense and harrowing, while the family drama emphasizes stress and emotion aptly. Together, it's a consistently-engaging experience that will truly underscore the intensity of war, and the hardship of overcoming post-traumatic stress.

I have no idea how close the film adapts real-life events, but a few contrivances can be spotted easily. It is quite the black-and-white film that glosses over the complexities of the war. I almost pegged it as a pro-war movie, until the last act started to emphasize the futility of the war effort and illustrate the hardships of veterans. The film does outright refer to Iraqis as "savage;" it's probably meant to label the regime rather than the entire country or culture, but it can be taken the wrong way easily. There are strands of jingoism that will rub some viewers the wrong way.

All that being said, I was personally enamored by the characters; I found them easy to follow and relate to, and it made their journey in and out of war a compelling one. The film sets up an actual villain sniper that Chris has to take down; I don't know if this was invented for the movie or what, but I thoroughly enjoyed the sniper-vs-sniper plot. The film has its fair share of messages; on one hand, the film does emphasize the "this is why we fight" message, but on the other it digresses into the physical, emotional, and psychological damage on the characters and their families. These aren't subtle themes at all, but I felt the two together formed a point and counterpoint that keeps the film rather well-rounded.

This film uses good-looking photography and punchy editing. Bradley Cooper is excellent as the main character, and the other actors aren't too bad either. Writing is okay. All the sets, props, and costumes look authentic and creditable. Special effects are sparingly used, and mostly okay. Sound design is superb. Music is okay.

American Sniper is for snipers what The Hurt Locker is for guys who defuse bombs. I favor American Sniper more though, because it doesn't have nearly as many stupid parts as The Hurt Locker, and Chris Kyle is a far more compelling character. The character is ultimately what makes the film most watchable, and with quality acting, it is well worth seeing.

4/5 (Experience: Good | Story: Good | Film: Good)

Film Review: Birdman (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Movies. They're so fake. So shallow and pointless. All style and no substance. Pretentious. And the people who make them...are they truly artists, or nothing more than a group of rich, snobby, spoiled hacks? In today's world of Michael Bay movies, viral videos, and reality TV, it would seem that the art of film, and the art of acting and performances, is often drowned out in pure pop-culture noise and trash.

These are a few of the main points made by Birdman, the humble story of an aging actor with a dream to become an accomplished actor on Broadway. After a career built entirely on a popular superhero, the man endures the ongoing struggle of his ego, with part of him wanting to fall back on his fame and fortune, and the other half wanting to strive for genuine artistic merit. Surrounded by various other characters at different ends of the spectrum, he's thrust into a downward spiral of madness.

As you can see, it's an interesting story with some meaty themes worth exploring. The experience of watching this story can be pretty rewarding; it maintains a darkly humorous tone throughout, with plenty of sharp dialogue. There are a few moments where the character's mental state induces weird scenes where he's flying like the titular Birdman. For the most part though, this is a straightforward dramedy that hinges entirely on the execution of its plot and characters. On those merits alone, I'd say it's an interesting and thought-provoking story worth seeing.

As far as the style goes, the cinematography is the film's most impressive asset. Much like Rope and Enter the Void, the vast majority of the film transits from scene to scene seamlessly, with hardly any cuts up until the end. It gives the film a very even flow, and it is especially smooth how the camera steadily tracks all the action and characters down narrow hallways and crowded streets, the way Kubrick's films often did. Acting is another great asset in this film. Every character in this film is somewhat unhinged; Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, and every other actor is effectively perfect. The script is really sharp and poignant, although some dialogue can be rather raunchy. This production uses stylish and real-looking sets, props, and costumes. The few special effects used are neat. Music consists mostly of drums, and I loved it.

This is a good-looking film with an interesting story that's told really well. That in itself makes it worth seeing at least once.

4/5 (Experience: Pretty Good | Story: Good | Film: Perfect)

Film Review: Casino Royale (007) (1954)

You may know the man and you may know the story, but have you ever seen the first ever James Bond motion picture? Technically, this hour-long made-for-TV feature is the first time Bond was adapted for a medium outside of the original novels.

Despite that notoriety, this really isn't much to scream about. Maybe it was exciting TV back in 1954, but after the onslaught of bigger and more prolific James Bond pictures, this little feature has not aged well at all. Even on its own merits, the film offers a small smattering of struggles and thrills, but it's all really small-scale, bland, and not that exciting.

This is also a rather lame adaptation of Ian Flemming's book. At its core, the film uses a very simple structure: Bond enters casino, plays off against Le Chiffre, gets tortured, fights his way out, and that's it. In both the novel and 2006 film, there is a lot more to it; both represented a more pronounced introduction (or re-introduction for the '06 film) for the iconic character, it marked the first encounter between Bond and SMERSH, and he has a significant relationship that would give the story more weight and mold him for future stories. None of that carries through in this version. There are many small changes and a lot of huge cuts to the story, which trims this whole affair down to something barebones, shallow, and flimsy. Among the various changes, James Bond is made into an American dude named Jimmy, Felix is renamed to Clarence for some reason, Vesper Lynd is nowhere to be seen, and is replaced by a female Mathis. Worst of all, none of these people have any ounce of presence or charisma. Yeah, at its best is just simple-minded throwaway entertainment; at its worst, it's a mess.

The film naturally doesn't have much of a style to it, given its limitations as a TV production. Filming and editing are straightforward, if not rather bland. Acting is a hit and a miss; Barry Nelson is easily the worst actor to play Bond in the history of Bond, but he does have a few unintentionally funny lines. Peter Lorre, on the other hand, is effective as Le Chiffre. Nobody else really stands out much. This production uses simple sets, props, and costumes. Music adds little to the experience.

If you're a diehard James Bond fan, this feature is worth a look just so you can say you've seen it. Other than that, you're better off sticking with the Eon productions.

2/5 (Entertainment: Poor | Story: Poor | Film: Poor)

Film Review: Natural Born Killers

"It's just murder. All God's creatures do it. You look in the forests and you see species killing other species, our species killing all species including the forests, and we just call it industry, not murder." - Woody Harrelson
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This might be the most psycho movie ever made. Not just because it's a movie about a couple who gleefully mass-murders people, but because of the relentless style. The movie is such a zany and noisy audiovisual presentation that it can be exhausting and nerve-wracking.

Presentation is a large part of what makes this film memorable; from start to finish, it is a rapid-fire onslaught of images upon images that collectively tells the story of murder and mayhem. The editing is often brilliant in the way it juxtaposes related images in an expressionistic manner. It can also be very weird, especially when animation, black-and-white photography, stock footage, overlays, and bizarre background effects are used in such short proximity. If you can stomach the craziness, the film does have plenty of memorable scenes, including a kick-butt opening sequence, and a finale filled with all-out rioting and bloodshed.

The story is pretty simple, but the characters take the front stage. You might think it's hard to relate to these brutal, twisted people, but their romance, rebellion, and carefree attitudes make them the most charismatic pair of criminals since Bonnie and Clyde. Thanks to the way the film is shown, and the way it dispenses pop-culture images all over the place, the film delivers an underlying theme of violence, and the way it's constantly exploited in the mass media to be delivered to the whole world as a product. It might be seen as pretentious and hypocritical that it's a violent movie preaching against violent movies. However, I don't see this as glorifying violence, since there's nothing glorious about it. It's a trashy and ugly affair, full of ugly characters and ugly acts. In the end, the film serves as a bold and shocking descent into the pathology of the minds of mass murderers, and perhaps also an exploration of the people who idolize them.

This film has some incredibly crazy photography; the camera tends to float around each scene, with a lot of skewed angles. Editing is very fast and relentless, with each scene intercut with a myriad of different images. Acting is intense; Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis inhabit their characters perfectly, while Robert Downey Jr and Tommy Lee Jones are extremely batty in their roles. Writing is good. Half of the sets, props, and costumes used are rather cheesy and fake-looking, but then the other half tends to look gritty and more real. Music is often pretty loud and obnoxious, but it matches up with the film well.

The style and violence of this film is incredibly dense and zany, but it is a heck of an experience that provides a stark expression of unbridled psychosis. If you can handle this kind of poignancy, then it's worth seeing at least once.

4/5 (Experience: Mixed | Content: Good | Film: Extreme)

Film Review: Dancer in the Dark

"In a musical, nothing dreadful ever happens." - Björk Guðmundsdóttir
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The joy of musicals is that they're so jovial and exaggerated that they counterbalance cold hard reality and offer audiences a happy form of escapism. Dancer int he Dark somehow does the opposite; it immerses the audience in the tragedy of the characters, until it finally punches you in the gut and leaves you crying on the ground.

This is a long film, but it is pretty briskly-cut so that no scene outstays its welcome. There are just a few musical numbers, but they aren't necessarily the same kind of flamboyancy you see in The Sound of Music or anything. If anything, the sequences in this film are downbeat and perhaps a little awkward. I don't think this film stands out as a great musical, but it does stand out as a great drama, because the film's sole focus is on story and character.

The musical aspect of the film provides a stark contrast between the main character's daydreaming and the harsh reality she has to face. Ultimately, it is the drama of Selma Ježková that takes the spotlight and makes the film so invoking; the film builds her up in a way that we don't want to see anything bad happen to her. Inevitably, the story gradually unfolds until desperation and hard times forces neighbors to betray one another, and the last half of the film leads to a hard-hitting finale. The last scene is among one of the most depressing endings I've seen. One could complain about the story - it does have some contrivances and manipulation - and chances are that some folks won't care for how things play out. I believe that it is an interesting plot that's laden with strong themes concerning dreams (both personal and the American dream), and the film's play on real-looking drama and musical fantasy makes it feel even more punchy.

Inspired by the Dogme 95' style, this film is crafted with a lot of hand-held camera work, blunt editing, and dull color schemes, giving it a pseudo-documentary look and feel. Musical sequences contrast greatly, using still camera work and a music-video style of editing, and more color. Acting isn't bad; the singer Björk is surprisingly a perfect fit for Selma's character, giving her a life and personality we can't help but to sympathize with. Catherine Deneuve, David Morse, and Peter Stormare are earnest in their roles. Writing isn't too subtle or sophisticated, but it matches up well with the performances and the film's style. Björk's music ranges from snazzy to hauntingly ambient, and the same extends to the music she made for this film; it is especially interesting how the background beats are made to match up with the sound effects of a given scene. The final song used in the overture, end credits, and last scene might be the most beautiful one I've heard her sing.

Dancer in the Dark is a bit like Breaking The Waves; both are gut-wrenching stories of women with golden hearts who become victims of unfortunate circumstances. I give Dancer in the Dark the edge for using entwining the genre of musicals with the drama to give it contrast and weight. I believe it is a storytelling experience that everybody should try out at least once.

4.5/5 (Experience: Good | Story: Very Good | Film: Very Good)

Film Review: Exodus: Gods and Kings

For thousands of years, the Book of Exodus has stood as a awe-inspiring account showing how Moses, united with God's power, liberated the Jews from slavery, and set them on the path to form their own nation. It's always been an inspiring tale of faith, power, and liberation. Plus, the characters have always been compelling archetypes; Moses, much like Maximus in Gladiator, is a man who serves his country, is banished, but comes back with a vengeance. Ramesses, much like Commodus in Gladiator, is a man whose ego is so bloated, he is driven to betray his most loyal followers. Put the two together, and you have a dynamic, intense character-driven conflict, which touches on timeless themes of loyalty, the nature of power, and the nature of faith.

Exodus: Gods and Kings promises an epic, visually-lush retelling of these classic characters and events. It bears something in common with Ridley Scott's earlier work with Gladiator, especially in regards to the characters. However, as it is with Kingdom of Heaven's theatrical cut and 2010's Robin Hood, the experience of Exodus is not always perfect.

The film definitely delivers on the visual front: each scene is laden with beautiful landscapes, highly-detailed sets and props, and lavish visual effects. There is one major battle scene in the beginning, which is fairly satisfying. After a long stretch of slower-paced drama, the ten plagues are shown as a montage of widespread chaos. It's portrayed less as a direct action of God, and more as a chain reaction of nature, with God's oversight; some audiences won't like this depiction, but I personally loved it. The passover scene is appropriately somber. When the exodus finally happens, the famous Red Sea scene offers a fantastic vision of a giant wall of water crashing over the Egyptian army, and it is quite the impressive sight.
Unfortunately, in-between all these exciting scenes, the film slows down drastically to a crawl, wadding through character-driven drama. It makes the pacing really herky-jerky, and if you don't care for the lead characters, then the film will be a total bore.

As it is, I found the characters to be decent enough. I could appreciate the conflict between Moses and Ramesses, which has a lot of push and pull that keeps the plot moving through its projected course. What might make the story iffy, however, is the details and how they compare to the source material. Moses is presented as a man who "wrestles with God," rather than simply doing God's bidding or wielding God's power. God appears as a character, and it's not even clear if He's meant to be taken literally or as a figment of Moses' imagination. God's goal throughout is to upstage everybody else, to humble them. It's in line with the Old Testament view of things, but on-screen, it feels off, because God's relationship with Moses is purposefully strained. Bible literalists will find this movie distasteful, thanks to the unconventional way the characters and events are handled.

Fortunately, the film looks splendid, with fantastic photography and editing. Acting is great: I thoroughly appreciated Christian Bale and Joel Edgerton as the two leads, I loved Maria Valverde, and everybody else is not bad. Writing is pretty bad; most dialogue is blunt, unrefined, and it feels oddly modernized. This production uses spectacular sets, props, costumes, and special effects. The music score is really beautiful too.

Despite the quality of the production, the quality performances, and the visual grandeur, the film has messy pacing and messy content that won't sit well with most viewers. I personally feel that the film has merit, and deviations from the Bible don't bother me that much, but it does feel a little off, and I'd love to see if a director's cut will rectify these problems the way it did with Kingdom of Heaven. As it is, anybody looking for a straight biblical adaptation should stick with Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments. Rent this only if you're a fan of historical epics, and you're not too hung up over biblical accuracy.

3.5/5 (Experience: Average | Content: Marginal | Film: Very Good)

Book Review: The Melancholy of Mechagirl (Catherynne M Valente)

This short book caught my eye, with the promise of offering a collection of sci-fi that focuses on robots, artificial intelligence, and the human consciousness, with the exotic backdrop of Japan and the surreal tropes of the cyberpunk genre.  The stories definitely offer all of that and more, but it becomes clear very fast that the author's heart and soul is firmly rooted in Japan, and every page is imbued with traces of Japanese culture, myth, and style.  Actual sci-fi storytelling is diminished in favor of the art of pure expressionism.

In spite of this, I found the stories to be utterly convoluted, dense, and bizarre - easily some of the most confusing and frustrating prose I've read since William Gibson's Neuromancer, or William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch.  Like these other texts, Mrs. Valente's work shows a uniquely masterful manipulation of words and sentence syntax, to give each story its own unique texture and feeling.  These aspects make her stories stand out artistically, but like Gibson and Burroughs, the content is so surreal and abstract that it defies the standard conventions of literary narratives.  Thus, the most of the stories went over my head without much resonance.

To be fair, there are bursts of the text that I found engaging.  The opening story, Melancholy of Mechagirl, is a kind of poem told in the perspective of robot with a female consciousness, and I thought it was cool.  Thirteen Ways of Looking at Space/Time is a very interesting 13-part tale that entwines the life of a sci-fi writer with different variants of creation myths (I wonder how much of this story is based on Valente's own life and thoughts).  These chapters include very bizarre but thought-provoking combinations of classical myth with scientific terminology.  Killswitch is an interesting short story (or maybe I found it interesting because it's about a video game; I kinda wish it was a real one).

Unfortunately, I found everything else to be a little too far-out for my tastes.  This includes the very meaty stories of Ink, Water, Milk, Fade to White, and Silently and Very Fast.  They drone on for many pages, but never really engaged me on any level; I found no characters I could really care about, and no conflicts that kept me invested.  Ghosts of Gunkanjima started off well, but I quickly lost interest.  Same for Story No. 6.  I hardly even remember how the other stories - Fifteen Panels Depicting the Sadness of the Baku and the Jotai, One Break One Stroke, Emperor of Tsukayama Park, Memoirs of a Girl Who Failed to be Born From a Peach, and The Girl With Two Skins - they all failed to captivate me personally.

All that being said, I can't deny that Valente's craftsmanship is unique, vivid, and worth a look on its own merits.  Chances are that there are readers who will love her work and find it more engaging than I.  It is an interesting blend of all things fantastic, futuristic, and real, drawing upon inspirations from her own life, her surroundings, and her imagination.

This book is brimming with art in its purest form.  It's not art that I can personally appreciate, except in short bursts, but the more high-brow readers may find it engaging.  I would recommend giving Valente's stories a look.

3/5 (Entertainment:  Poor | Stories:  Mixed | Book:  Very Good)

Film: Al's Top Drama Films Honorable Mentions

If you've read my Top 100 list of favorite dramas, I think you'll find that a lot of the biggest, most popular, and most hard-hitting films made my list, but there is still a whole world of drama films that fell just a bit short for me personally.  That is not to say that any of them aren't worthwhile, or even that they're any better or worse than what's on my list.  I would like to take the time now to list the films I've considered for the final list, or recognize as great dramas worth seeing.  These honorable mentions are interesting and invoking in their own right, and I think most of them should be worth checking out.
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A Bittersweet Life (Dalkomhan Insaeng):  This film's focus on character is what compelled me to list it as a great crime drama.  However, with the sheer level of action, suspense, and emotion, I was never fully comfortable listing this film on a drama list.  I decided it's best classified as either a thriller or action film.  The same can be said for other Korean crime films, such as OldBoy, I Saw the Devil, Memories of Murder, The Housemaid, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, and Mother.  Man, that thrillers list will be epic...

A Picture of Dorian Gray (1945):  This is a good-looking film, and an interesting story worth seeing.  It does drag a bit though, and its supernatural premise might make it a better pick for my list of favorite horror films.

American Gangster:  I remember it's generally good, but after all these years, I've rarely bothered to revisit it.  It was described to me as quintessential when it was released, and I can see why, but it doesn't quite surpass the other gangster movies I've seen that made the list.

Awakenings:  Not always a thrilling film, but Robin Williams and Robert DeNiro offer good performances, and their fight to cure neurological disorders is pretty interesting.  Just not quite as big of a standout to make my top 100 list.

The Birdman of Alcatraz:  I just recently got a chance to see this film, and it is a good-looking film with quality characters to care for.  It got edged off my list just slightly.

Black Narcissus:  It is a good-looking film with interesting themes of sin and temptation, but despite all its quality, it doesn't quite resonate as well in the long run.

Blue Valentine:  Best known as one of the most frank and uncompromising romance films ever made.  No sugar coating, just a full-on exploration of all the ups and downs of relationships.  It is a somber film worth seeing, but on repeat viewings, I found it a little less captivating.

Casino:  Hey, I had loads of other Scorsese films on the list, so why not this famous piece of work? Truth is, I found Casino to be really good, but a little less endearing thanks to Sharon Stone's constant screaming.

The Deer Hunter:  This is a heck of a story worth seeing.  For me personally, it tends to drag at spots, so it falls a little short of the drama list.  It will surely be listed on a top 100 war movies list though.

The Departed:  I could probably justify this as a crime drama in the same vein as others that made the list, but for whatever reason, I feel it's better suited for a list of thrillers.  I have to admit though, I keep forgetting about this movie; I remember it's great (and I might even like it better than the original film it's based on:  Infernal Affairs), but I've yet to give it a re-watch to see how it holds up.

Doctor Zhivago:  I've always been fond of this movie, and it probably should have made my list.  But, I feel its best at home listed among other historic epics.

The Double Life of Veronique:  This deserves a mention for being one of the most beautifully-shot movies I've seen.  Unfortunately, I always felt its plot is very uneventful.

Drive:  Was on the list originally, somewhere in the middle.  Despite having solid character work, I decided the film is better classified as a thriller.

Fargo:  Was originally close to the top of my list, but I decided it's better classified as a thriller rather than a drama.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas:  Deserves props for being wild, surreal, and bat-s&#t crazy.  It makes the movie a standout, but at the same time it can be a bit overbearing, and wears the plot thin.

The French Connection:  It is a good, gritty cop thriller, but despite all it's dramatic aspects, I figure it's best classified as a thriller (or, maybe even an action film).

Friday Night Lights:  As you can probably tell, I don't really follow sports, so sports films are a rarity for me personally.  I did find this one enjoyable. Just not quite enjoyable enough to make the top 100 dramas list.

Ghost:  A decent film and a decent story.  The only really bad thing about it is the sentimentality, which is through the roof.

Go:  Not really sure if it's even considered a drama.  It has comedy, sure.  It has thrills.  It has...stuff.  Seriously, what is this film?

The Godfather Part III:  That's right, I don't think this is all that terrible like people make it out to be.  Doesn't mean I consider it good enough for the top 100 dramas, but I remember enjoying the film well enough.

Gomorrah:  This is possibly the most realistic mafia film ever made, shot on location in Naples to show a more grounded portrayal of thug life.  It is an interesting film that is often violent and disquieting, but it's pacing can be rather slow.

The Hate (La Haine):  Probably should have made my list.  It's not usually the kind of movie I like - it is a random plot - but the characters and their clashes with the law keep it interesting.  The film overall is just plain good.

Heat:  There is plenty to love about Michael Mann's epic drama that entwines cops, robbers, and their families' livelihoods.  My appreciation of the film improved on the last viewing, but it is still a film that drags for me personally.

Lord of the Flies:  The story is a literary classic, so the movie is worth seeing for story alone.  The actual filming is okay.

The Machinist:  I recall this being a pretty good, albeit surreal and mind-bending film with its own industrialized environment and its own sense of cause and effect.  I just couldn't recall if this is truly a good drama, or just a good thriller.

127 Hours:  Was originally within the top 10 or so, but after some consideration, I decided to classify this as a thriller film rather than drama, even though there is some drama to this and the film technically falls into both genres.   But really, with the film's intensity and focus on survival, I felt it's more at home among films like 2011's Frozen.

Only God Forgives:  Expressionistic to the point where it'll likely lose audiences and strain their attention span.  I personally find it noteworthy for its visual oomph and themes, but I figure it's better on a list of thrillers.

Over the Top:  A half-way decent, feel-good sports movie, but it is rather cheesy and outdated.

Persepolis:  A fairly interesting animated film that offers some semi-autobiographical insight on life in Tehran and Islamic culture, and how it compares to the West.  In fact, the more I think about it, the more I realize I probably should have put it on my list, because it is a good film overall.

Quadrophenia:  Was always a hit-and-a-miss with me personally.  I can dig the soundtrack, the occasional outbursts and scenes of protest, and the finale along the cliffs of Dover.  Everything else is rather uneventful.

The Room:  .....psyche! Just kidding.  This movie sucks.

Slumdog Millionaire:  Never thought this was a bad film, although I'm sure people will still gripe about it being overrated.  However, it is a film I've only seen once and never really bothered to revisit, leaving its long-term resonance questionable.

Spun:  Only just now got a chance to watch it, after making the top 100 list.  It is a very wacky, trippy, and weird film that drags the audience through the grungy ups and downs of substance abuse.  It's easily comparable to Requiem for a Dream, but I find the latter more profound.

Varsity Blues:  Same as with Friday Night Lights, I found this film to be decent, but not quite a big enough standout for me personally to list it as a favorite drama.

Al's Top 100 Favorite Drama Films Part 5

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

20:  Love Exposure (Ai no Mukidashi)

Drama Of: Yū Honda, pervert.

The Film: This is probably the oddest, wackiest, and most extreme film on this list. Even though it runs for four hours, it's never dull, and it tells a long, tight, and intriguing story that explores the relationship between sin, perversity, and religion, all in the shadow of cult fanaticism. Even after wallowing through so much oddness and filth, love prevails in the end, and it is as endearing of a tale as it is unique.

My current score: 5/5
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19:  City of God (Cidade de Deus)

Drama Of: Buscapé, photographer.

The Film: The titular City of God, within Rio De Janeiro, is probably one of the scummiest places you can see on film. Shot on location in the various favelas, with a large cast of local, non-professional actors, the film exudes nothing but authenticity. In this grungy, real setting, the film dives deep into the cruel, violent criminal underworld, before showing how Buscapé avoids the temptations of gang life, and uses his talents to rise above adversity. It is as compelling of a story as it is relentless and inspiring.

My current score: 5/5

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18:  Cloud Atlas

Drama Of: Six different people, six different eras.

The Film: Folks might gripe that this complex, entwining drama that spans centuries will be too convoluted and messy to handle. While the movie strains a bit on the logic of the plotlines involved, it is a faithful adaptation of the book, and it is a spectacular-looking film. Performances are decent, and their characters provide the heartfelt centerpieces to each vignette of human history, which collectively underscores the ongoing struggle between civility and savagery.

My current score: 5/5

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17:  Gran Torino

Drama Of: Walt Kowalski, grumpy old man who doesn't like people on his lawn.

The Film: When you slap an old war veteran with racist tendencies next to a family of Korean immigrants, there's bound to be some kind of clash. In this case, however, the story moves into some endearing territory as Walt is made to relate to, and ultimately fight for, his foreign neighbors. While it's easy to root for Clint Eastwood's character when he's growling and pointing shotguns at people, he's at his most endearing when he overcomes personal hatred and finds a new family in the most unlikely place.

My current score: 5/5

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16:  The Elephant Man

Drama Of: John Merrick, deformed man (based on the real-life elephant man, Joseph Merrick).

The Film: Parts of this film can be weird (mostly the opening shots), but this is still one of the sanest movies made by David Lynch. It is a stylish black-and-white film with a lot of great imagery and great performances. Best of all, it lets the characters speak for themselves, to underscore the compelling struggles of the title character trying to become part of society.

My current score: 4.5/5

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15:  The Prestige

Drama Of: Two rival magicians.

The Film: This stylish and mind-mending tale presents two rivals struggling in unusual ways to outdo each others' magical performances. While the story ventures into some fantastic territory, it is told in a fantastic way that reveals more and more behind the characters, up to its thoughtful ending. The film is a fascinating study of characters and their drive for vengeance, and it is presented with solid showmanship.

My current score: 5/5

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14:  American Beauty

Drama Of: A man going through a mid-life crisis, much to the chagrin of his seemingly-perfect family.

The Film: Stylish and smooth, this film explores the hidden desires and transformation of an average middle-class man going through some rough changes. The film's turn of events can be rather extreme, but it's all about eschewing the superficial, materialistic aesthetics of modern suburbia and exploring the true hidden beauty of the world. Some people understand, some don't, and it builds up to a rather bittersweet climax.

My current score: 4/5

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13:  The Green Mile

Drama Of: John Coffey, a prisoner with a very special gift.

The Film: Adapted closely to Stephen King's six-part novel, this story has a tremendous and heartfelt focus on a whole bunch of characters. Some are good, some are evil, but they all revolve around John Coffey, whose gifts provide a deeper insight to everybody else and help them rise from the adversity of the painful world they inhabit. The picture strikes a bittersweet tone, and it is emotionally hard-hitting.

My current score: 4.5/5

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12:  The Shawshank Redemption

Drama Of: Andy Dufresne, wrongfully convicted of murder.

The Film: This film probably tops most people's list, but it's easy to see why. It's a well-paced prison drama with characters we can relate to, and a powerful ending that invokes themes of finding freedom and redemption. Andy's struggles may as well reflect everybody's struggles through their lowest points in their life, and there's nothing more inspiration than to see him emerge triumphant in the end. All in all, a well-made drama with endearing characters.

My current score: 4.5/5

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11:  Donnie Darko

Drama Of: Donnie Darko, troubled teen lost in a tangent universe.

The Film: A very strange and surreal experience that weaves high school drama with bizarre concepts involving time travel and alternate universes. At its core though, Donnie is a frustrated young man who lashes out against hypocritical teachers, pretentious schoolmates, his own family, and pretty much the entire world he lives in. At the same time, he finds enough good in the world to literally save it from the threat of universal destruction. Donnie's tale is as strange as they come, but thanks to the film's focus on the character, it's rarely convoluted or disconnected, and it's certainly an interesting story.

My current score: 4.5/5

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10:  Enter the Void

Drama Of: Some kid who gets himself killed. In spiritual form, the film then explores the people who knew him, past present and future.

The Film: What a trip. Gaspar Noé's lengthy film very ambitiously takes a step to the other side of mortality, and allows us to experience an out-of-body experience that dives deeply into the main character's life, death, and rebirth. It is a continuously-flowing film, using wild camera tricks and SFX to stitch the film together in a manner that could put Hitchcock's Rope to shame. The movie gets into some very seedy material though, as it wanders in and around the dark neon-lit alleys of Tokyo and lingers on some rather graphic sex scenes. In the end though, it is a hell of an experience that literally puts the audience into the character's shoes, and beyond.

My current score: 4.5/5

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9:  Titanic

Drama Of: Passengers of the RMS Titanic.

The Film: I can hear everybody groaning now, griping about how overrated this film is. Even I will admit that it is a long film with a lot of emphasis on romance and characters lashing out unreasonably; I should find it really sappy and daft. But even after all these years, I still find the film endearing. It covers a lot of the same ground as A Night to Remember, given the focus on the facts behind the Titanic's first and last voyage. It all serves as a backdrop for a love triangle between a wealthy woman, a charming low-class scoundrel, and a rather snooty upper-class aristocrat. It is a bit of a contrived set-up, but the film rarely overstays its welcome as it tends to mix things up with a little bit of everything: you wind up coming into the film to witness the disaster scenes, which are visually impressive, but you stay for the drama, which is compelling enough.

My current score: 4.5/5

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8:  Taxi Driver

Drama Of: Travis Bickle: the lonely taxi driver who becomes a punk.

The Film: This film is all about character, and Travis is one unique character. It's easy to relate to him as he wanders around the urban cityscape, finding little solace in its seedy underbelly, and struggling to connect with others. He is ultimately driven to lash out in more outlandish ways, transforming into a disillusioned activist, and ultimately an anti-hero. The film, and character, both have a serious amount of grit to them, but both are endearing and unique to the end.

My current score: 4.5/5

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7:  The Grapes of Wrath

Drama Of: The Joad family.

The Film: A pretty ballsy story for its time, John Steinbeck didn't shy away from exposing the hardships of Oakies during the Great Depression era. The film follows the original novel most of the way, showing the basic struggles of finding work, food, and a place to stay. The film emphasizes these hardships pretty well, immersing the audience in the gritty, desolate world the Joad family is forced to live in. It is a compelling story that's well-told, and hasn't been matched since.

My current score: 4.5/5

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6:  Schindler's List

Drama Of: Oskar Schindler, and the victims of the holocaust.

The Film: Perhaps the most definitive holocaust film of all time, for this is a fine quality film that covers the history of the events and never once shies away from showing how brutal and heartless the whole affair was. The film's most memorable and hardest-hitting scenes focus on the holocaust victims, but Oskar Schindler's struggle is the centerpiece and provides the best possible narrative structure. It is a hard film to watch, but it is worth seeing.

My current score: 4.5/5

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5:  American History X

Drama Of: A former white supremacist who's trying to prevent his brother from succumbing to racial hatred.

The Film: A hard-edged and hard-hitting exploration of racism in the perspective of NeoNazis, and it isn't a pretty picture. The characters do some pretty nasty things, but through the main character's eyes, we come to understand his ordeals through prison and the drive to find redemption. The picture is none too subtle about underscoring the root causes and motivation of racism, but overall, the presentation is incredible and the story is a must-see.

My current score: 5/5

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4:  One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Drama Of: Mac McMurphy, madman, or genius?

The Film: A bit dry perhaps, but this film presents a very compelling cast of characters and a compelling competition between the forces of order and the forces of chaos. It's easy to root for McMurphy, trying to upset the institution, and Nurse Ratched is one of the best villains we love to hate. The film has a number of episodes that are great to watch, but the ending really ties it all together thematically and pushes it to levels of brilliance.

My Score: 5/5

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3:  Requiem for a Dream

The Drama Of: Four individuals who succumb to substance abuse.

The Film: Requiem for a Dream is through and through the mourning song for the death of ambition and the obliteration of goals; all things that normally make human beings persevere, but in this film, it's all flushed into a downward spiral of suffering and despair. And the film drags the audience down with it, forcing us to follow these characters and endure their suffering.

That's right, this film is as depressing and painful as they come. Some may find it distasteful, most would only be willing to endure it once, but the experience is a valuable one for all, because this film is a shadowy mirror that shows how drug abuse (or, perhaps, any form of obsession or "dream") can ravage human lives in multiple ways. Most of the film focuses on a young dude, his girlfriend, and his best buddy, who all get involved in the drug business with the best intentions (because it feels good and there's money in it). At the same time, there's a parallel story involving the dude's mother, whose desire to lose weight leads her to an addiction to diet pills. When everybody's efforts backfire, they all become plunged into a world of hurt, and the entire last act of the film is a harrowing montage of scenes where all the characters endure some kind of suffering.

What really amplifies this film's effect is its style, which is completely unique and powerful. It is loaded with hip-hop montages, which really pump the images out at rapid-fire speed, but in a sublime manner. All the actors exude the proper emotions, as does Clint Mansell's epic music score. In the end though, I think director Darren Aronofsky excelled at taking the source material (a novel I considered to be incredibly incomprehensible) and extrapolating a tangible narrative.

My Score: 5/5

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2:  Stand By Me

The Drama Of: A bunch of kids who hike through the country to see a dead body.

The Film: A seminal coming-of-age film that forces a bunch of kids to literally look at death in the face. Adapted liberally from Stephen King's novella, this simple tale puts us in the shoes of a few endearing (if not rather obnoxious and foul-mouthed) kids. The film rolls ahead briskly and is always engaging, in both plot and character.

More than the destination, it is the journey they take that's most memorable; the film is at its best when the kids are just being kids, goofing off and talking smack at each other. They have a number of perilous encounters, including bad run-ins with a vicious dog, a train, and a bunch of teenagers. In between, the characters take the time to tell vulgar stories, or reflect on their hardships.

In the end though, each character comes out a stronger, wiser, more mature individual; this is the journey that wound up shaping their lives, and it is a journey that mirrors all of ours in some ways as well. Whether living life or facing death, however, the film shows that friendship can help us all endure the best and worst of it.

My Score: 4.5/5

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1:  It's a Wonderful Life!

The Drama Of: George Bailey, the man, the myth, the legend...

The Film: Well, as much as I love a lot of the other films already listed, I realized that they're all as depressing as they come, and I needed to cap this list with something positive for a change. It just doesn't get much more inspiring than this: the story of a man who tried so hard his whole life to leave town and explore the world, but had to settle for an average life. Then, when everything seems to be at its worst and he considers taking his own life, he is shown a stark vision of how everything would have changed if he was never even born.

The film takes its time to lay out George Bailey's life story, so we learn and understand him on the most fundamental level. The final act brilliantly flips everything on its head, showing how everything in the rest of the film becomes undone and evil winds up prevailing. The film understands that nobody lives in a vacuum; all our lives connect to each other in complex ways, and removing one person will alter the destiny of many others. Even when life doesn't seem to be going well, when everybody seems to be against you and you never seem to reach your true ambitions, there's always something around the corner. Especially for George, whose good actions rewards him in the end. It doesn't even matter that he may never get to see the world or become financially successful; he has his health, his family, his community, and that's all he needs to be truly happy.

The film's Christmas settings and focus on angels makes this a classic for the holidays, but the film's messages are profoundly universal and endearing. I truly do believe that everything that goes around comes around, and all our lives impact other lives in ways we can't even perceive. In itself, the film's title relays the most positive and inspiring message: it is indeed a wonderful life.

Watch the film; it is a must-see. Above all, be inspired to live your life to the fullest and enjoy all that you've been gifted with.

My Score: 5/5
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Want more drama in your life? Feel free to check out my list of honorable mentions, to see even more great drama titles I thought about (or might have neglected) that are still worth seeing at least once.