Category Archives: Film

Art, Film, Films, Quotes, Video

Great Scene from Kids (1995)

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This is truly one of my all time favorite movie scenes. On the surface it appears to be nothing, just random shots, but within the context of the whole film it serves a purpose- a sort of bizarre PSA, like this is what will happen to you if you get too fucked up beyond repair. There’s also an eerie calmness to the scene (perfectly complemented by the music, incredible soundtrack) that stood out to me from my initial viewing nearly five years ago. The shots that linger on the various, “lost,” homeless residents of NYC are tragically beautiful. It should be noted to those have not seen Kids (1995) (a high crime indeed WATCH IT NOW!) that this is the second to last scene in the film and it serves as a transitional scene; it sets the audience up for the eye opening, disturbing finale. This is probably my favorite scene in the entire picture because it exists on its own, but it also ties in with the work as a whole. Lastly, the fact that the scene is set in the early hours of the morning not only gives a certain quiet aesthetic to it as I mentioned earlier, but also makes the images we see in front of us feel routine, like this is normal, this is how it always is and always will be. Sad, but true.

OR “A wake up call to the world!” as Janet Maslin said in her New York Times review. Here’s a link: http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/134786/Kids/overview

Anybody else affected by this scene? Love Kids? Hate it? Post a comment.

Art, Film, Films, pictures, Video

Aaron Sorkin on The Social Network

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGVFvoMC46g

The Social Network (2010) was my favorite film from last year (should have won Best Picture!) and one of my all time favorites in general and much of  that admiration is a result of Aaron Sorkin’s brilliant screenplay. His script has inspired my own writing as I am starting my first forays into seriously writing fiction.

Here’s my review of The Social Network from last year. It’s not one of my best, but check it out anyway.
https://klyam.com/2010/10/11/film-review-the-social-network/

Art, Comedy, Film, Film Review, Films, humor, pictures, Video

Mini Classic Film Reviews: True Romance…

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Full Title: True Romance
Director: Tony Scott
Year: 1993
Comments: First up is Tony Scott’s classic True Romance. TR is a film geek’s film. And whadya know, the geekiest film geek wrote the screenplay: none other than Quentin Tarantino! This is one of Tarantino’s earliest screenplays and one of his finest. His didja get it? nerdy comic book, obscure Kung- Fu flick references are splattered all over this drug/crime thriller. In brief, the story concerns a quirky, young couple- an ex call girl, Alabama (Patricia Arquette) and a comic book store owner, Clarence (Christian Slater) in a fast paced race to sell a shit ton of uncut cocaine following the murder of bama’s psychotic, off kilter, wigga gangsta (Gary Oldman), the rightful owner of the blow. Now, his men are after the dynamic duo and hellbent on reclaiming their narcotics. I’m not going to lie this movie isn’t flawless and often I wonder what would a Taratino directed version be like. For sure, Scott’s direction is vastly different from anything we’ve seen from Quentin and this definitely makes TR appear to be more like your average action flick… but it’s not. Not at all. It’s not the strongest crime film, but it is a fun ride with elements of comedy, drama, and even “CSI” esque televison. I don’t know if that’s just me, but I get those vibes, I often feel like I’m watching a high quality television program. Certainly, the star here is the screenplay, from the first few moments anyone even slightly familar with Tarantino’s style can identify that these are his menacing words. Though let’s not forget the many sound performances here; there is an all star cast that includes Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, James Gandolfini, Samuel L. Jackson in a hilarious cameo, Chris Penn, Bronson Pinchot, and Brad Pitt as a pleasant stoner almost of the Hurricanes of Love variety my heavenly brothers. And yes the action is exquisite, very fun, very badass, I think most action fans will dig it and will be able to easily digest thee other more intelligent matter floating in between all the blood and bullets. Don’t worry fuckheads, this is pure high quality action, not too much to think about, but not D U M B dumb either. By the way, the exchange between Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper (link below)  is one of my all time favorite pieces of dialogue and appears to be quite popular amongst cult film fanatics. That’s one thing I will say about this movie that stands out, the individual scenes. Several of the scenes themselves I enjoy more than the whole feature. Don’t get me wrong it is a very good film and there’s a feeling completion when the credits roll, but overall I’d say I prefer some of the scenes as opposed to the whole cinematic experience. To wrap things up I hope people really do check out this cult classic because it seems like no one has seen it and that’s a damn shame!

Grade: 8/10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqccyUpnZwA

Full Title: Blue Velvet
Director: David Lynch
Year: 1986
Comments: Ahh another Dennis Hopper film. Dennis Hopper don’t let him mark ya, it’s so much darker don’t let him touch ya. Don’t fill a KLYAMer up with dread.  Okay, if you don’t know the song “Spidey’s Curse” by the Black Lips then you must be saying WTF?! to yourself, and more imporantly you are a fool! You deserve the ambiguity. But, enough of that for now. Let’s talk about David Lynch’s masterpiece. For twenty-five years now people have dissected the shit out of this picture and with great reason. Lynch sets you up with the wonderful, colorful, suburban, American Dream in the form of the town Lumberton, only to rip the heart out of that idyllic image and flush it down the toilet. Lynch offers us a view of a world most of us have never been close to and pray that stays the same. We see that beneath the pleaseant, peaceful town of Luberton lies a seedy world of gangs, hardcore drugs, and rape. Enter the movie’s villian and one of my favorite characters in all of film, the nitrous inhalin madman, Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper). Lynch mixes campy comedy with extremely distubring imagery of the gothic tradition and the result is one of the 80s’ greatest films.

Grade: 9/10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CSoWg3nBeU– Roy Orbison- “In Dreams” scene


E-I-E-I-OMG, California, this is your Governor, excuse me, Governator.

Full Title: Kindergarten Cop
Director: Ivan Reitman
Year: 1990
Comments: Okay, this is clearly not a good movie in the traditional sense, but I loved it as a kid and I still enjoy watching it now. I think it is silly to slap a grade on this kind of movie, but I have to say for what it is worth the story is decent and it mixes the action, comedy, (cop)drama, and kids/family entertainment genres fairly well.

Grade: N/A

And check out this video!

http://youtu.be/F8AJdfzCw3U

Art, Film, Film Review, humor, pictures

Classic Film Review: 1981

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Full Title: 1981
Director: Ricardo Trogi
Year: 2009
Comments: This film is truly delightful, a word I rarely use to describe a film. The movie is a semi-autobiographical account of Ricardo Trogi’s family life as Italian immigrants in Quebec in 1981. The plot takes place when Trogi is twelve years old and therefore the film itself is (brilliantly) seen through the eyes of a twelve year old. Though this flick deals with several serious issues such as immigration and the resulting prejudices that come with it, it is overall a light hearted, amusing work, and as I said earlier, delightful. Trogi uses 1981 as a character; the young Ricardo Trogi needs to keep up with the fast paced times and all the new gagets and hoodwinks (stylish jackets, trapper keepers, video games, etc) and what have you that every cool twelve year old must have or they ain’t shit. Since, Ricardo is the new kid with a funny accent, it makes all of these “necessities” all the more important and in fact, it would be the end of the world if he didn’t have them. The adult Trogi, the filmmaker, uses these humorous adolescent anecdotes to highlight the more serious, social perils, anxieties, if you will, of being working class and not being able to afford everything everyone else (seemingly) around you has. Ultimately, being happy. Over the course of the film the boy grows up…. a little and he learns that at the end of the day, sometimes the world is just a phony place.

Grade: 7/10

Art, Film, Films, Music, pictures, Video

And the Oscar Goes to…

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Trent Reznor (above) and Atticus Ross won Best Original Score for The Social Network (2010)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role:
Colin Firth for The King’s Speech

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role:
Natalie Portman for Black Swan

Best Achievement in Directing:
Tom Hooper for The King’s Speech

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role:
Christian Bale for The Fighter

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role:
Melissa Leo for The Fighter

Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published:
Aaron Sorkin for The Social Network

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen:
David Seidler for The King’s Speech

The rest can be found here:  http://www.imdb.com/ 

This year turned out to be pretty much what I expected, no real surprises.  I’m glad The Social Network, Toy Story 3, and Christian Bale’s performance in The Fighter  got the credit they deserved. I really didn’t see too many films this year, but specifically I saw eye to eye with the acamedy for those three films and their respective awards.