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“Crash” won the Oscar for best picture before I saw it.  I had high expectations when I finally saw it.  I was dissappointed.  I thought it was terrible.  Painfully so.  Now that it’s been a couple of years since I watched it, I don’t remember all the details, I just remember that all of the characters were bi-polar idiots and that all of the conflict could have been avoided if any characters could have used a smidgin of common sense.  But they couldn’t do that because then there wouldn’t be a movie.  I hate movies like that.

“No Country For Old Men” won this year’s Oscar for best picture and last night I finally saw it.  It exceeded my expectations.  In contrast to “Crash” the characters here are driven by their nature, not stupidity.  In fact, the characters are all exceedingly cunning and crafty.  The conflicts are unavoidable.  Some people may fault this movie for being dark and cold-blooded.  Also, they may not appreciate the open ending.  I didn’t have a problem with it.  I was absolutely riveted for 2 hours.  That’s the kind of movie I love.  This definitely gets added to my fantasy blu-ray collection.

Okay, by the third installment, I’ve become familiar with the fact that someone in a CIA office in Langley or NYC can hear and see everything going on at any given place in Europe in real time.  I’ve accepted that outlandishness.

What ticks me off about watching a movie like this is the MTV editing.  The quick cuts, zooms, poor framing and general jostling around of the camera are a total distraction.  I can’t see what the hell is going on.  You know camera manufacturers spent a lot of time in R & D to develop cameras that won’t shake regardless of what the operator is doing.  Why would the director turn off this feature?  Is it to obscure the fact that he has no story and that the action is completely preposterous?

I was enjoying the Great Escape on television the other day and it occured to me that no matter how many times I watch it, I still enjoy it.  Forget Oscar.  Forget AFI’s top 100.  To me, what makes a great movie is that whenever it comes on, I can get sucked into watching it because it’s either so well made, so entertaining, or in most cases both.  If all of the following titles were available on blu-ray disc and I had the money to spend, this is what I would have in my library:

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) Gone With the Wind (1939) The Grapes of Wrath (1940) Citizen Kane (1941) High Sierra (1941) The Maltese Falcon (1941) Casablanca (1942) Edge of Darkness (1943) Double Indemnity (1944) The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) Dark Passage (1947) Key Largo (1948) The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) The Third Man (1949) White Heat (1949) The Asphalt Jungle (1950) High Noon (1952) From Here to Eternity (1953) The Caine Mutiny (1954) On the Waterfront (1954) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) 12 Angry Men (1957) Run Silent, Run Deep (1958) The Young Lions (1958) Lawrence of Arabia (1962)  The Longest Day (1962) The Great Escape (1963) Dr. Strangelove: Or How I Learned … (1964) The Train (1964) Dr. Zhivago (1965) The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) In the Heat of the Night (1967) 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Tora!Tora!Tora! (1970) The French Connection (1971) Deliverance (1972) The Godfather (1972) American Graffiti (1973) Chinatown (1974) The Godfather, Part II (1974) The Great Gatsby (1974) Jaws (1975) The Bad News Bears (1976) Silver Streak (1976) Star Wars (1977) The Deer Hunter (1978) Superman (1978) Apocalypse Now (1979) Airplane! (1980) The Shining (1980) Das Boot (1981) A Christmas Story (1983) Blood Simple (1984) The Terminator (1984) Top Secret! (1984) Back to the Future (1985) Brazil (1985) Running Scared (1986) Three Amigos! (1986) Matewan (1987) The Princess Bride (1987) Die Hard (1988) A Fish Called Wanda (1988) Frantic (1988) Midnight Run (1988) Batman (1989) Dead Poets Society (1989) Field of Dreams (1989) Glory (1989) Kill Me Again (1989) National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) Dances With Wolves (1990) Goodfellas (1990) The Hunt for Red October (1990) City Slickers (1991) Reservoir Dogs (1992) Scent of a Woman (1992) Unforgiven (1992) The Fugitive (1993) Jurassic Park (1993) Groundhog Day (1993) Menace II Society (1993) The Remains of the Day (1993) Schindler’s List (1993) Dumb and Dumber (1994) Pulp Fiction (1994) The Shawshank Redemption (1994) Get Shorty (1995) The Usual Suspects (1995) Big Night (1996) The English Patient (1996) Fargo (1996) Lone Star (1996) Swingers (1996) Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) L.A. Confidential (1997) Men With Guns (1998) Saving Private Ryan (1998) Wild Things (1998) Go (1999) The Limey (1999) Office Space (1999) Memento (2000) Sexy Beast (2001) Dirty Pretty Things (2002) Identity (2003) Sideways (2004)

I’ve had an interest in World War II since a young age.  As a consequence of this interest, I’ve seen many TV documentaries on the subject.  A great many of the documentaries I’ve watched are focused on Adolf Hitler.  In my estimation, none of the documentaries about Hitler have ever done a satisfactory job of explaining what made him tick and how he got started.  The genesis of his rise to power usually gets glossed over.  We are told over and over that he was a World War I vet, and that he was imprisoned where he wrote Mein Kempf (sp.?).  We are also told that he took advantage of the humiliation of the Treaty of Versailles, the economic depression and people’s anti-semetic views to gain a following around the city of Munich.  For the most part, that’s as in depth as the information gets.  It never gets to the root cause of how a mad man gets started.   Was he always a mad man?  I mean obviously he wasn’t as mad as the bums you see talking to themselves on park benches.  When did he cross the line?  What made him snap?  What could lead a man down the path that Hitler was destined to take?  It all seems so inconceivable.  I’m sure there have been plenty of books written on the subject that perhaps answer my questions but I’ve never picked one up.   

Last night, I watched the movie “Max” released by Lions Gate Films in 2002 starring John Cusack.  The movie portrays Hitler’s relationship with a Jewish art dealer in Munich at the end of World War I.   I don’t know if the script is taken from the historical record, or if it’s a complete fabrication.   It doesn’t matter.  For the first time I’ve feel like I’ve been given a plausible explanation for all of my questions.  What had never made sense to me, now does.  For this reason, I give the film thumbs up.

I personally have found new appreciation for those who try to send a message across in a 30 second TV spot. It’s hard!! This week, Plaxo and a few other startups launched their versions of Superbowl ads using YouTube as their media vehicle. It’s a fantastic idea considering this is their target market for what it is they all do. What do I mean?

First, anyone and everyone will watch the Superbowl. Some have computers - most will not. Those with computers won’t all have internet access - a significant number won’t. Let’s face it - you’re going to have diesel mechanics and police officers dunking down pork chops and washing it down with a Bud - many of your TV viewers will be people who don’t give a hoot about being “connected”.

Sure, I don’t have the data to prove it but I can easily imagine that over 50% (ok 80%) of the viewers won’t give a rat’s donkey about CareerBuilder.com or GoDaddy. Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing monkeys on screen as much as the next guy. But tell me this - does Edith, the truck stop waitress, really give a care about IBM’s on demand server solutions?

But back to my original point - trying to fit an idea in 30 seconds is insanely hard. I found this out really quick when a bunch of us at Plaxo were trying to… well… make a commercial. Fortunately, unlike TV, we didn’t have to worry too much about the time limit. I suppose the advantage of using the internet as your medium is its flexibility. Think about it - no FCC, no broadcasting company telling you what you can or can’t air, no review or rating panel to turn down your porn spokeswoman, or no nothing (yeah, I said “no nothing”). Here’s the “aired” commercial:

This ad was filmed using a Sony HD camera, $20 for beer, a couple of hours one late afternoon and a bit of editing - but the experience will always be priceless. It’s 1:21 and probably as tightly edited as we could get it without losing our message. You can view the other ads in YouTube. Is it TV quality? Well, that’s subjective - everyone has an opinion. (Holy crap - you should see some of the comments after viewing these videos - harsh!!! “Stop hatin’… and start participatin’…”).

Now, does this change the way companies reach out to consumers? Hmmm.. not really - there’s still a long way to go. It’s a big world out there. It’s still going to be a while before the diesel mechanics and police officers of the world would agree that “the dang fangled web thing-a-majig” is more than just a time waste. I should know… my pops was a cop and a diesel mechanic.

My friend lent me his copy of “Domino.”  Once I saw that Mickey Rourke was featured I knew it was not going to be my favorite movie.  But I’ll watch anything for free so I gave it a whirl.  In just the opening scene I had already formed some definite opinions about the movie.  It was one of these movies that take a stylistic approach.  There were a lot of slo-mo, moving camera, quick zooms, quick-cuts and multiple cuts.  Basically every trick in the bag for your average MTV director.  This didn’t surprise me because my friend enjoys that kind of thing.   Then comes the opening credits and that’s when I see that the director is Tony Scott.   And I say “Aha!  It all makes sense.”  This is the same director who just about ruined “Man on Fire.”  Tony Scott is so in love with “the look” he is giving to the film that it seems to me anyway that he’s never pondered whether or not it is appropriate for the subject.  “Man on Fire” was a good old-fashioned revenge flick with Denzel Washington giving his usual strong performance.  It would have been more enjoyable except Tony Scott’s camera tricks are ever prevalent.  It get pretty damn annoying.   The same can be said about “Domino.”  Though it was never a candidate to make any of my top ten lists, it wasn’t that bad.  It had a couple of interesting twists.  Watching Christopher Walken go ballistic over fonts was actually pretty funny.  But all the stylization keeps you at a distance.  You never feel like you are watching something that is actually happening.  It seems more like an excercise in “how cool can I make this look.”  The story gets lost.  I’ve got a problem with that.