Why 'The Wolf of Wall Street' is a stone cold classic

I loved The Wolf of Wall Street when it first came out. I couldn't stand the childish griping about its language, sexual explicitness and copious drug use. I also couldn't fathom how anyone could interpret it as an endorsement of capitalist hedonism.

And now that I've bought it and watched it a second time -- guess what? I love it even more.

America needed a film like this and it needed it last year when a glut of safe, feel-good movies were coming out just in time for the Christmas season.

This movie has a lot of GoodFellas in its DNA. It's funny and shows you the allure of Wall Street excess but then it turns ugly, raw and quite scary.

The much-discussed last shot is an indictment of the audience watching the film and the characters in it. Pretty ballsy for a movie directed by a man in his early 70s.

That was one of the things that really struck me watching the film for the first time. It's such an exuberant,"young"-seeming film. It didn't surprise me that everyone I know under 30 loved the movie while older audiences appeared to be somewhat appalled by it.

Also, something must be said for the winning streak Leonardo DiCaprio is on. Besides maybe George Clooney, there is no other movie star who's had the track record this guy has had over the last decade.

The Wolf of Wall Street

Part of his genius is that he is believable in nearly every role from start to finish. Here he is both callow boyish youth and rakish aging rebel. The monologues he delivers in this movie are electrifying and sear through the screen. Chiwetel Ejiofor gave last year's most emotionally gratifying male performance, but DiCaprio gave the fiercest.

I think part of the reason this movie was so polarizing was that it made no attempt to sugarcoat the outright contempt these so-called "Masters of the Universe" have for the 99 percent.

DiCaprio delivers a nasty speech at one point about how "there's no nobility in poverty" and its clear that people in this world wholeheartedly believe that.

These aren't people who are necessarily educated or born rich. But when they accumulate wealth they convince themselves it is because they had the strength to make it so, and those who don't are "losers."

This fascist mindset isn't just a fact of life for a certain segment of the population. It's ingrained in a lot of Americans' psyches. And that is unsettling.  DiCaprio's character says "their money was better off in my pocket...I knew how to spend it better." A pimp could and would say the same thing but because of his character's profession he is celebrated instead of reviled. Go figure.

Jonah Hill also deserves an amazing round of applause. His byplay with DiCaprio rivals Pesci and De Niro at their best. The scene where he 'explains' why he is married to his own cousin is a bit of comic genius. He has grown from a gifted young comedian to a fully fledged great dramatic actor in a few short years. Along with Will Ferrell, I think he may be the most talented of the second generation "Frat Pack".

I get it, a movie about people without a moral compass -- let alone a 3-hour one, is not for everyone's tastes. I guess I'm someone who is more attracted to and interested in flawed/bad people then unabashed good/nice ones. I'm something of a pessimist. I don't think most people are well-intentioned and decent. I'm the kind of person who laughs when a character says a girl looks so good he'd let her "give me AIDS."

For me the key scene in The Wolf of Wall Street comes early. DiCaprio does a cold call with a target and openly mocks him with his physical gestures while he reassures him with his voice. His colleagues barely suppress their laughter in the background. That's what these trolls are doing. They are laughing at us while they rob us blind.

Is it subtle? No. Is it right on? Absolutely.

Brando gives his greatest performance in 'Last Tango in Paris'

Marlon Brando in Last Tango in Paris

Marlon Brando will probably be best remembered by modern audiences for his Academy Award winning (but later refused) performance in 1972's The Godfather and to a lesser extent his show-stopping turns in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and On The Waterfront (1954).

But for my money his greatest acting achievement was the controversial Last Tango in Paris.

It's a marvelous, very vulnerable role for the legendary actor and it was so raw Brando admitted he never committed himself to a part the same way again.

I am an enormous Brando fan. I believe he was one of the greatest film actors of all time. But he was so full of contradictions.

He was both feminine and masculine. He could be sensitive and sweet but also a bully onscreen. He also became so cynical about his talent that he seemed to purposely torpedo it by letting himself go physically and by phoning it in for the majority of his later movies.

That is not the case with Last Tango in Paris, which is one of the best tragic movies ever made. It is lush and sensual but ultimately tinged with dread. And anchoring it all is Brando, aging but still quite handsome as Paul, a man ravaged by loss and regret. His wife has just committed suicide. We never are given a reason why but we get a sense that Paul was a difficult man to love, let alone live with.

To cope with her death or perhaps to forget it, Paul engages in what is initially supposed to be an anonymous relationship with a French girl named Jeanne (played by the very appealing Maria Schneider). Their affair is exciting and daring for them at first but Paul grows more controlling and cruel and then things get disturbing. I won't spoil the last act for you -- but needless to say I find it emotionally devastating.

Brando in Last Tango in Paris

Last Tango in Paris has maintained a reputation for being a sexually graphic film. It's definitely not for kids, but it's pretty tame by today's standards. It's still a shocking film though, more because it's willing to go into some dark places sexually. This is not a film that's shot to be sexy (even though it looks gorgeous). There are long, unbroken takes and powerfully delivered but totally natural monologues.

Brando has two moments like these in the film. The first is touching and bittersweet and the second (a speech he delivers to his dead wife) is simply one of the greatest pieces of acting I have ever seen.

Brando had so much contempt for his profession he later tried to discredit his own work by claiming the tears he cried were manufactured but the truth is up there on the screen. Brando really bore his own soul as Paul and it's riveting to watch.

That said, this is not a movie for everyone's taste. The language and sexuality are frank and fairly provocative. It's not a feel-good movie and probably not the best introduction to Brando's body of work.

Still, it's one of the great 1970s-era dramas, and now that the hysteria surrounding the infamous "butter" scene has died down -- it should be reappraised.

It is a film that can be open to many interpretations. There are themes of doubling and regression. There is rebirth and death. There has been a case made for the film being about repressed homosexuality.

I enjoy any film that invites this kind of passionate evaluation and debate.

And for Brando fans it's the culmination of all his prior work.

He was reportedly a phenomenal mimic and his prior legendary roles had him doing a flawless interpretations of characters somewhat removed from himself -- whether it be an inarticulate longshoreman or a mafia kingpin. But in this film we got the closest glimpse to the raw real-life personality of this most mercurial of movie stars.

In defense of Keanu Reeves: He's not good but he's not that bad

Keanu Reeves in Point Break

Keanu Reeves is not a good actor. I'm not going to pretend that he is. I just think it's become quite fashionable to consider him one of the worst actors ever, which I think is unfair.

For several years, with the brief outliers of Speed and The Matrix, it's become really uncool to like Keanu Reeves, and very hip to ridicule him. The "Sad Keanu" meme is just one of many recent parodies of this preternaturally good looking guy.

Last night, after re-watching the totally ridiculous (but still really fun and entertaining) cult classic Point Break, I found myself re-evaluating the guy's talents. And I've determined he's really not that bad.

Take Point Break for example. He's totally credible as an action star. He looks amazing. And he seems more aware of the absurdity of the movie he's in than say the late Patrick Swayze who's performs his horribly written philosophizing surfer crook with complete earnest sincerity.

Watching the movie I recalled a friend once telling that me they first saw Speed while abroad and dubbed in Spanish, which led her to see Reeves as a better actor. And I think she was onto something.

Reeves has perhaps the worst voice in the history of movies. When people think of someone "sounding dumb" it probably comes out like Reeve's voice if it's a man (and Kim Kardashian's if it's a woman). And despite a long and varied career, Reeves never quite lost that idiotic tone. He tried accents to a fault (Southern in The Devil's Advocate and British in a few movies), but he always comes back to sounding like a Ninja Turtle.

I am not saying this guy would be the second coming of De Niro if he only had better pipes, I just think it has handicapped his acting severely. That said, for an actor who's pretty much universally perceived as sucking -- he's been in some pretty decent movies.

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure

Besides smash hits like Speed and The Matrix, Reeves has had solid supporting turns in Dangerous Liasions, River's Edge, Bram Stoker's Dracula (albeit with a terrible accent), A Scanner Darkly (which I didn't love, but critics did), Something's Gotta Give, Parenthood and My Own Private Idaho (which I still haven't seen -- but I've heard is terrific).

Off-screen, Reeves has a reputation for being a private, but totally humble good guy. He recently directed a very well-received documentary about the film industry's movie from traditional film stock to digital, hardly idiotic fare.

I also have failed to mention the first role that I first discovered him in: Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. The surprise hit was one of my childhood favorites and even at that young age I saw Reeves and his co-star Alex Winter as clearly ironic in their portrayals of high school "dudes".

Reeves probably played the role of Ted better than any other part he's ever had, and it's become totally wedded to his persona. Reeves could play the president of the United States and we'd still see Ted. Of course Sean Penn first won our hearts playing a similar character, Spicoli in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and no one has ever pigeonholed him in that part. So some of this does have to do with Reeves' lack of talent.

And even while I try to defend him, I'm being a little hypocritical. Tonight, my girlfriend and I are attending the popular spoof of all things Keanu, Point Break Live!, in which a random audience member plays his part by being led around with cue cards. So I am just as guilty of ragging on the guy as anyone.

And yes, I have agreed in the past with the argument that a lot of stars could have played Neo.

But I'm just saying he's not the worst actor I've ever seen -- not by a long shot and clearly he has defied the odds because he's still around making movies despite the fact that he is so endlessly mocked.

Righteous!

Rock Hudson and the most underrated actors/actresses

Rock Hudson

After re-watching the creepy and pretty compelling 1966 drama Seconds, I was struck by what a terrific actor Rock Hudson was. While the film has some flaws, his performance is fantastic.

Perhaps understandably, Hudson's closeted homosexuality and fatal AIDS diagnosis have largely overshadowed his wildly successful Hollywood career.

In fact, even when he was alive, Hudson was largely dismissed as a pretty boy romantic lead (he was something akin to the pre-Dallas Buyers Club Matthew McConaughey of the '50s and '60s.)

But in films like All That Heaven Allows and Giant he showed glimmers of real talent. And some modern critics have argued his off-screen secret life as a gay man gave his performances an ambiguous complexity. Thinking about his career made me think about who some of my favorite "underrated" actors are. Of course, that term can mean many things to many people. But nevertheless, here are a few names that come to mind:

Nick Nolte

Richard Gere: Gere has been unfairly pigeonholed because of his good looks and huge success in the so-called "chick flick" genre. But he's been doing great work for several decades. He's excelled at playing overconfident men who think they have everything and get the rug pulled out from under them. See: Days of Heaven, American Gigolo, The Hoax, Arbitrage, An Officer and a Gentleman.

Nick Nolte: Has a mugshot ever ruined a career? That seems to be the case with this terrific actor. His disheveled appearance following a 2002 arrest is now far more famous than his acting. He has an amazing gallery of damaged, grizzled men. See: 48 Hrs., Cape Fear, North Dallas Forty, The Thin Red Line.

Julianne Moore: Obviously she's beautiful, that's the first thing most people notice about her. But she also has a case to make for being one of the best actresses of the last 20 years. Her tremendous range has probably hurt her by Hollywood standards -- she's never had that one signature role. See: Short Cuts, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Far From Heaven, Children of Men, The Big Lebowski.

Jeff Goldblum: A universally beloved actor who still never gets the respect he deserves (never nominated for an Oscar). The still handsome and charming nerdy girl's sex symbol can be seen doing some great understated work in the new Wes Anderson movie The Grand Budapest Hotel. And he was the best thing in many bloated sci-fi epics of the 1990s. See: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), The Right Stuff, The Fly, Jurassic Park, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.

Catherine Keener

Catherine Keener: In a perfect world this wonderful actress would be a movie star, but because she usually does smart but quiet supporting work she is often unnoticed. She has one of the most inviting smiles in movie history and she always plays characters with real wit and intelligence. See: Being John Malcovich, Where the Wild Things Are, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Capote.

Harrison Ford: This guy will always be revered as a movie icon and if he never did anything besides play Indiana Jones and Han Solo he would be a legend. But his stellar work as actor has always been undervalued. He is one of the most sympathetic and emotionally available leading men. And in his few more ambiguous roles (like The Conversation) he's shown impressive new sides to his stoic persona. See: Blade Runner, Witness, The Fugitive, The original Indiana Jones and Star Wars trilogies.

Jeff Daniels: Because of his every-man name and face (and the fact that in his biggest hits he was almost always the second banana) Daniels is usually taken for granted as an actor. It wasn't really until HBO's The Newsroom (which admittedly, I never watched) that he started getting real praise for his brilliance.He isn't afraid to be unlikable, which I love. See: The Purple Rose of Cairo, The Squid and the Whale, Terms of Endearment, Dumb and Dumber, Something Wild.

Laura Dern: The unconventional muse of David Lynch and lovely daughter of Bruce Dern is a vibrant and compelling presence in every movie she is in -- even the ones that aren't so great. She is a real risk taker, willing to eschew her vanity to play any role to the hilt. See: Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, Jurassic Park.

Robert Redford

Robert Redford: Here's another movie star who's ridiculously good looks have often gotten more attention than his incredible acting track record. He may be an icon but he also is a great physical and intellectual performer. See: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Candidate, The Sting, Three Days of the Condor. All the President's Men, The Natural, Sneakers, The Horse Whisperer.

Marissa Tomei: Her adorable performance in My Cousin Vinny won her an Oscar but Hollywood has always been more preoccupied with her beauty than her talent. Even though she's still a knockout she has really risen in critical esteem following that breakthrough part. See: The Paper, In the Bedroom, The Wrestler.

10 reasons why 'Casino' may be Scorsese's most underrated movie

Casino often gets a bad rap.

It's compared unfavorably to GoodFellas. It gets beat up for being too long. And because it's the last collaboration (to date) between De Niro and Scorsese it's sometimes erroneously faulted for breaking up that legendary partnership.

These are any number of reasons why I personally believe these perceptions are wrong.

There are some striking similarities between GoodFellas and Casino, including the casting of De Niro and the great Joe Pesci in lead roles. But they are also wildly different films with a different message.

One is about the seduction of being a gangster and the other is about the excess of Vegas. The movie is long but it's not boring. De Niro and Scorsese have nearly collaborated several times since but scheduling difficulties got in the way.

As I've said before, Martin Scorsese is my favorite director. So perhaps I'm a little biased. But there is more interesting and fun stuff in Casino than in most of the other movies released that year (no offense to Babe).

I got to revisit the film on the big screen during a Brooklyn Academy of Music series on the work of Scorsese, and although I yet again had to contend with an obnoxious hipster crowd (I hate when an authentic piece of period fashion gets dumb obvious laughs), I really had a great time with this sprawling epic.

Here are 10 reasons why I feel this film deserves masterpiece consideration alongside Scorsese's more celebrated films like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Mean Streets and yes, GoodFellas:

1) This is one of Scorsese's funniest movies. There's all these little touches like when someone talks about "back home years ago" in voiceover narration and the text 'Back Home Years Ago' appears over the flashback. Or the awkward byplay between De Niro and a police officer (apparently a real cop, not an actor) as they settle a domestic dispute with this wife. Casino is just filled with these hilarious incidental moments.

2) The use of music in this film is brilliant. Wild swings from Devo's "I Can't Get No (Satisfaction)" to the theme from Godard's Contempt somehow make sense in a film that is purposefully grand and excessive. The use of "Love Is Strange" when De Niro spots Sharon Stone's character for the first time is just perfection.

3) Speaking of Sharon Stone, she is really quite terrific in this movie. It's not an easy role. She has to be hysterical and wasted throughout much of it and not particularly likable either (late in the film she nonchalantly ties her own child to a bed so she can go out and leave the girl at home). But she totally throws herself into the part and holds her own alongside heavyweights like Pesci, De Niro and James Woods. It's a shame her off-screen antics have sidetracked her career.

Sharon Stone and Joe Pesci in Casino

4) I am always so impressed with how much information is in this movie. It's not just entertainment, it's an education on how Las Vegas actually worked when the mob ran the show. And the film isn't afraid to go off on tangents to really illustrate things like how cheaters were caught and dealt with or how skimming worked.

5) De Niro plays a really neurotic out-of-character part. His Ace Rothstein, despite his bluster, is not a tough guy. He never beats anyone up and if anything he gets bullied by the Stone and Pesci characters. His perfectionism and arrogance is his downfall. The scene where he flips out over the lack of blueberry distribution in his muffin is priceless.

6) Joe Pesci gives my favorite performance in the movie. Only he could make a short, overweight, middle aged man such a figure of menace. I regularly site the scene where he has a guy's head in a vice as one of my all time favorite black comic moments. And he has a truly compelling speech about how he doesn't fear prison, which is what essentially makes his character a badass.

7) The outfits that De Niro wears are somehow both incredibly cool and totally ludicrous. He has such swagger that I found myself both admiring the way he looks at times and then being so amused by how willing an actor of his stature is to look silly.

8) I am a huge fan of actors playing against type (think Albert Brooks in Drive) and this film is filled with unexpected dramatic turns from legendary comedic actors like Dick Smothers, Don Rickles and Alan King. These colorful characters add so much flavor to the story and enhance its authenticity.

9) While he doesn't beat you over the head with it, Scorsese works some smart socio-political commentary into his film as well. The gaming industry powers-that-be are no less corrupt and unsavory than the gangsters. There is no shortage of anti-Semitism rampant in this world and this film doesn't shy away from it.

10) I love the movie's use of voice-over and violence. Neither of which are over-used and when they are utilized it's totally necessary. This movie does something I've never seen before -- it cuts off someone's voice-over mid sentence when they're brutally murdered, such an audacious choice. And the movie's violence, while occasionally gruesome, makes you feel its impact, which I think is important.

Casino is not Scorsese's best film and it's definitely not for everyone's taste. But it deserves further consideration and I think will ultimately go down as one of this celebrated director's classic works.

1984 Flashback: My top 10 from 30 years ago

Bill Murray in Ghostbusters

1984 is one of my favorite years in pop cultural history. It was the year Martin Short and Billy Crystal blew up on SNL. It was the year of Michael Jackson's Thriller music video and quite possibly my favorite album of all time -- Prince's Purple Rain (more on that later). The Cosby Show debuted in 1984 and the greatest Super Bowl commercial of all time aired too.

The prestige movies of the year (with the notable exception of Amadeus) were largely forgettable and didn't really connect with audiences. It was the pop hits that have stood the test of time. Many of them were not critical hits when they debuted but were widely embraced as classics later.

These are movies that I watch all the time, can quote from with ease and have entered the public consciousness to an insane degree. Everyone knows Ghostbusters or Nightmare on Elm Street or The Terminator, even if they've never seen them. And that's quite a feat.

This is my latest top 10 list, following 2004 and 1994, and this was definitely the hardest because I liked more movies from this year than I did in the prior posts. For instance, the great Mickey Rourke drama The Pope of Greenwich Village just barely missed my top 10. And quite possibly my favorite Muppet movie, The Muppets Take Manhattan, didn't make the cut either.

I think with basically one outlier, all of my picks for 1984 have one thing in common -- they're really fun movies. The kind of movies you buy because you'll want to keep revisiting them.

The most underrated Indy movie

10) A Nightmare on Elm Street - Funny story about this movie. When I was a little kid just the image of Freddy Krueger in commercials terrified me and my older brother convinced me it was based on a true story that took place in our town. I never saw the movie until college and I walked away thinking it was one of the most original, influential horror films of all time. While the sequels devolved into self-parody -- the original still has great power and genuine scares.

9) The Natural - One of my all-time favorite sports movies with an iconic leading role for one of my favorite actors, Robert Redford. This romantic fable of a mysterious baseball hero is old fashioned fun if you buy into the fantasy of it all, which I do. This is the movie that makes all those mythic sports moments we dream of come to life.

8) This Is Spinal Tap - This largely improvised parody of rock n' roll excess is one of the great comedies of the decade and its meta-sly inventiveness is still apparent in modern comedies today. The verbal runs of Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer are unforgettable. It works because the songs are awesome and hilarious. And like all great comedy it's played entirely straight. "This one goes to 11."

7) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom - Sometimes it's knocked as the weakest of the original Indiana Jones movies and I suppose it is, but not by a mile. Its opening rivals Raiders for excitement and it's darker more nasty tone actually holds up quite well. I still remember my big brother (again bullying me) pretending to take my heart out after we watched this film. Yes, Kate Capshaw is the weakest, most annoying female lead in the series. But the scene where Indiana Jones cuts that drawbridge is more than enough to get in my top 10. "You call him Dr. Jones!"

6) Beverly Hills Cop - Quite possibly the quintessential Eddie Murphy movie. This classic fish out of water comedy brilliantly utilized Murphy's unique set of skills -- his mimicry, ability to take on personas, his wiseass side and his inherent likability -- are all on display here. His Axel Foley is just the epitome of cool, almost always one step ahead of everyone. He would never be (and may never be) that badass again.

5) The Terminator - The original and still my favorite of the Arnold Schwarzenegger-as-killing-machine action spectaculars. The first film revolutionized both the sci-fi and thriller genres and helped make Schwarzenegger an A-List icon. It doesn't waste a second for sentimentality, it just plunges into this neo-noir world with something very real at stake. This is when James Cameron was just a hungry filmmaker trying to make his mark -- and boy, did her ever. He'd be back.

4) Repo Man - A loose, funny and inventive piece of punk rock cinema which is like one big middle finger to the whole Reagan aesthetic. Naturally one of the best takes on American culture would be made by a Brit. This movie is almost impossible to describe. It's ostensibly a comedy about a pair of mismatched repo men (Emilio Estevez and Harry Dean Stanton) and their cohorts but it's also got science fiction and social commentary. I love this film and it's become more and more of a favorite of mine over the years.

Prince in Purple Rain

3) Purple Rain - As I said earlier Purple Rain is probably my favorite album of all time and Prince is without a doubt my favorite singer, so naturally this has to be in my top three. I think this may be the best concert performance movie ever made (although the same year's Stop Making Sense, featuring the Talking Heads, is a close second). It's also a great film. Prince is an unusual but compelling leading man and Apollonia is one of the sexiest stars of the decade. Dark and brooding but also funky as hell, the movie perfectly captures a singular musical (and fashion) moment in time.

2) Paris, Texas - So this is my one serious film on the list. This glacial, bittersweet story features a stellar lead performance by the legendary Harry Dean Stanton (was this his year or what?). It's a moving portrait of a troubled man who disappeared years ago only to suddenly resurface and come into contact with his young son and estranged wife. Beautifully shot, staged and scored -- it's simply put one of my favorite movies of all time. It justly won the Palm D'Or at Cannes.

1) Ghostbusters - What can I say about this movie? It's perfection. An incredible premise, a dream cast and flawless execution. Even if some of the special effects seem dated now they still have a nostalgic charm. After several hits, this was the movie that rightfully made Bill Murray an icon. Alongside Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, Rick Moranis, Ernie Hudson and Sigourney Weaver (who he had great chemistry with) he elevated what would have been a fun movie into something sublime. Murray's persona would evolve over time, but his bemused, sarcastic and lovable Peter Venkman was the version we'll always love most. One of the best comedies ever made and one of the best films of the decade.

'Marnie': Hitchcock's most misunderstood masterpiece at 50

I just got home from a special screening of Alfred Hitchcock's polarizing 1964 film Marnie.

NYC's Film Forum is doing a retrospective of the legend's career and as a big fan of "the master", I wanted to revisit this film which confounded me the first time I saw it. It has grown in stature over the years, with some calling it his last masterpiece.

Unfortunately the crowd I saw it with was full of snarky, sniveling hipsters who spent most of the movie guffawing at some of the more dated aspects of the film and missing the depth and intelligence beneath the surface.

For a movie that came out fifty years ago, Marnie is remarkably fresh and entertaining.

Yes, there are elements that verge on camp (the process shots for instance) and there are cringe-worthy moments in the film -- but I would argue they are intentional and they hold up far better now than they did when the movie was first released.

What Hitchcock was attempting here was something very different than he ever did before. It's a purely psychological character study with very little traditional thriller elements. 'Tippi' Hedren's mannered, occasionally shrill performance as Marnie turned off audiences then but now seems smart and feisty and Sean Connery, whether he realized it or not, brilliantly subverts his persona to play one of the most disturbing and fascinating male leads in Hitchcock's canon.

Sean Connery

Still, movie audiences coming off Psycho and The Birds were probably in the mood for traditional suspense and instead you get a 2 hour-plus portrait of a pathological liar with some serious post traumatic stress disorder. It doesn't sound fun, but I loved it.

The opening at first seems conventionally Hitchcockian. Hedren plays a woman who travels around the country, switching identities and ripping off wealthy businessmen who hired her for her looks. Hedren is usually unfairly compared unfavorably to the director's past heroines like Grace Kelly and Ingrid Bergman but I think it was just the fact that her more purely feminist and assertive persona was unusual for their time. Her character's only quirks are her aversion to both men and the color red.

Connery plays an egomaniac named Mark Rutland -- who is a lot like James Bond but with less humanity. A playboy who seeks the approval of his father, he's the kind of man who has no qualms comparing women to animals.

It's a testament to Connery's considerable charm and sex appeal that for a while his macho desire to "tame" Hedren is almost appealing, until it turns sadistic.

Without spoiling to much of the plot I will say that Rutland gets wise to Marnie's routine and in one of the most bizarre plot contrivances in movie history forces her to marry him or face jail time.

What follows is exploration of gender inequality that rivals many future examinations of domestic horror.

Marnie begs Rutland to "let her go" repeatedly and points out his mental instability, which he normally reacts to with a smug cocked eyebrow.

I can't say enough about how interesting the Connery performance is.

This film came out the same year as Goldfinger, arguably the most celebrated Bond film of all time. He had solidified himself as the most popular action hero in film and yet here he is playing a neurotic, possessive and ultimately quite vindictive man.

One can't help but think of Connery's well-documented real-life issues with women when watching the film and as a fan of his acting it made me miss him as a presence in the movies (he prematurely retired 11 years ago).

I also think Hitchcock's so-called late period gets a bad rap. I have, admittedly, not seen a lot of his earlier films but my favorites are mostly from the mid-to-late 50s and beyond. In movies like Marnie and later Frenzy, he was finally breaking free of the pesky Hollywood censors and bringing some real edge and darkness to his movies.

Gone were the compromised happy endings, like in the otherwise excellent film Suspicion. He was laying down a blueprint that his heirs like Brian de Palma and Martin Scorsese would pursue in the decades following his death. And if you look below the surface their films owe a bigger debt to Marnie than some might think.

My love/hate relationship with 'The Breakfast Club' continues

The Breakfast Club

I have something of a love/hate relationship with The Breakfast Club.

I get that for a certain generation of (mostly white) people this film was a seminal coming-of-age movie that really spoke to their high school experience but for me it's a movie with noble intentions that somewhat squanders what's actually interesting about it.

Revisiting it today I still feel the same ambiguity. I appreciate John Hughes and I think a lot of the acting in the movie is quite excellent but I resent that the movie has been positioned as some sort of definitive portrayal of teen life because it just isn't.

It bothers me that there isn't a single person of color in the movie. In fact the closet thing we get to blackness is Anthony Michael Hall affecting a slightly racist stereotypical bluesman voice when donning shades and smoking a joint (he does a similar bit in Weird Science).

And it really bothers me that we're meant to cheer when the most iconoclastic and interesting member of the famous five "types", Ally Sheedy, is remade in Molly Ringwald's more traditionally pretty image. What was that about?

I suppose setting a movie entirely in a library with teens talking, screaming and crying was ambitious enough for 1985, and trying to make the characters more than broad stroke caricatures was a bridge too far. Considering that they're playing "the jock", "the brain", "the princess" et. al., the cast acquits itself very well.

She was cuter before

Judd Nelson is all bravado but he gives you just enough tenderness to find his pretty nasty character interesting. Hall's emotional meltdown also affected me -- maybe since of the five I could probably relate to his character the most, although I loathe to admit it.

Ringwald and Estevez's transformations seem less honest to me although I liked the scene where Ringwald admits she'd avoid the others in the hall the next day. It feels like a conversation I really would of have had in high school.

But what about this movie really resonates besides its killer soundtrack?

The farther I get from my high school experience the hazier it is for me. I always lament the fact that I didn't party enough or study hard enough. I just, like I suspect most people, coasted through it.

So, for the most part, high school movies just don't blow me away. I can't get all nostalgic because for me college was the really formative experience of my life.

I always enjoyed Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Heathers because they were really funny regardless of their setting and the premises felt original. Fast Times at Ridgemont High is full of energy and hormones, which I kind of still am so that movie will always appeal to me. But this one is a little too cute and convenient for me.

I can't for the life of me buy the sudden romances that occur in the last 10 minutes of the movie -- although I guess we're supposed to believe that the heaps of very astute abuse that Nelson hurls at Ringwald's character throughout the movie was actually an elaborate form of foreplay.

And I resent the hell out of the fact that Ringwald asks Hall to write their detention essay and he actually agrees -- especially after she willfully admitted that she would feel "pressured" not to be his friend outside of detention.

Still, it's a great time capsule movie, with one of the best theme songs ever ("Don't You Forget About Me") and I think it's ripe for an update. It's very good at evoking that mood -- that leaden feeling of being stuck in high school. I do remember high school feeling like an eternity, and this movie does a great job of putting you in that mindset.

I just think -- and again to those who adore this movie, my apologies -- that it is ultimately an utterly conventional movie masquerading as an unconventional one.

'The Godfather Part III': Quit your griping, this movie has its merits

Andy Garcia in Godfather Part III

And now we come to the much maligned Godfather Part III.

Many fans of the first two films haven't even bothered to see this one, which in my opinion is a shame. Despite being nominated for best picture and director -- the third installment of the legendary gangster drama series has had its reputation trashed in the 20-plus years since it hit theaters, which is more than a little unfair.

No, the movie is not a masterpiece likes its two predecessors. It suffers in comparison because it was so clearly conceived as an attempt to cash in on earlier success. It also failed on the casting front, with the filmmaker's daughter Sofia Coppola giving a pretty awful performance in the pivotal role of Michael Corleone's daughter.

I have several thoughts on this. First off, I think it's quite interesting and progressive that director Francis Ford Coppola decided to accentuate the role of the daughter instead of the son in this trilogy which has largely been preoccupied with men. Sofia was very young when she made this film, essentially an amateur so she can't be entirely faulted for looking weak in comparison to heavyweights like Al Pacino, Andy Garcia and Diane Keaton.

Her part was originally supposed to be played by Winona Ryder, a fine actress, but also in my opinion, woefully wrong for the part. Ryder is decidedly not ethnic looking, it would be hard for me (and by extension audiences) to believe she is Sicilian, just one generation removed. I feel like she would have been just as distracting if albeit a more glamorous presence than Sofia.

Sofia Coppola in Part III

Sofia Coppola is an interesting looking actress, but she is not a traditional Hollywood beauty, yet she performs the role as if she is.

She delivers her lines with a sort of Southern California sultry drawl, even though she is supposed to be a New Yorker. She comes across as too modern for a film set in 1979 and she doesn't do much to modulate her voice, which is already pretty leaden.

That said, I have enormous respect for the fact that despite the critical drubbing she received after this film came out (her name became synonymous with Hollywood nepotism) she has since carved out a successful career as director with a signature style and as a bit of a fashion plate herself.

But in this film her presence is a problem. As is the backstory of Michael Corleone's machinations within the Catholic church. The plot there gets a little talky and convoluted and it lacks the pacing of the first two films.

Still, there is a lot to admire in this film.

Pacino gives a moving and sympathetic lead performance -- after becoming something of a monster in Part II, his Michael Corleone character starts to rediscover his humanity in this film but unfortunately it's too little too late.

Andy Garcia is quite terrific in the movie as well (he received a best supporting actor nomination). He takes a part which at first seems like an obvious attempt to rehash James Caan's Sonny Corleone character and makes it something more interesting -- a kind of composite of Sonny, Michael and Vito.

The film looks fantastic -- and there are some nice touches that tie the film back to the original film -- particularly the sequences in Sicily. Needless to say, this movie can only be appreciated by those who know and love the first two films.

I've also always found the finale very powerful. (Spoiler alert). It would be too easy to just kill off Michael Corleone but for him to lose his daughter -- what was most important to him, more so than his own life, really stuck with me. And Pacino's wail of agony -- just heartbreaking. The sequence which proceeds it -- an attempted assassination at an opera -- is expertly staged and edited.

The final image of his collapse and death in old age may not work for everyone, but it's ok by me. Which is sort of how I feel about Part III. It doesn't detract from the legacy of the series (in the way that say, the Star Wars prequels did). And it doesn't deserve all the hate it gets.

'The Godfather Part II': Why it's my (probably) favorite of the trilogy

Robert De Niro in The Godfather Part II

It's become something of a hipster affectation to say you prefer The Godfather Part II to the original and I myself have vacillated on the issue over the years. They're both pretty much perfect movies so it's kind of like a cinematic Sophie's Choice.

And yet, I'm going with what might be the best sequel ever made (although The Empire Strikes Back has a very strong argument for that title too). The second film in this grandiose trilogy is darker, richer and I think a little more rewarding than the other Godfather films.

Part of my appreciation for it comes from knowing quite a fair amount about the history of its making.

Coppola was constantly on the chopping block when making the first Godfather film. He was second guessed on everything from casting to cutting. After that film became the biggest box office office hit of the decade he had virtual free reign with its follow-up and it shows.

The movie opens with a bang -- the murder of young Vito Corleone's mother in Sicily -- and traces this act of violence's repercussions across generations.

This beautifully shot, very American story criss-crosses between Vito Corleone's (played by a note-perfect Robert De Niro) ascent into power as a mafia kingpin and Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) descent into madness in the very same position.

Let's put aside for a moment the fact that this film contains two of the best performances of these iconic actors' careers. The film also is a subversive statement on 1970s-era America. This movie came out in 1974 -- the year Richard Nixon resigned from office -- and the theme of corruption (of family, politics, sex) runs just below the surface throughout this movie.

Cazale and Pacino in Godfather Part II

"We both are a part of the same hypocrisy," Michael Corleone icily says to an obnoxious senator looking to manipulate him. And he's right.

The political intrigue is just part of the movie's power. It's the familial relations that make it special. The disintegration of Michael's marriage to Kay (Diane Keaton) is played out in devastating fashion and his complex relationship with his pathetic brother Fredo (the late, great John Cazale) is handled brilliantly.

Cazale should have been nominated for an Oscar for his wholly original and heartbreaking performance as the brother who is perpetually passed over. And his is just one of the show-stopping supporting roles in this engrossing drama.

Michael V. Gazzo, who has one of the greatest voices ever, is funny and unpredictable as the proud Frank Pentangeli. Talia Shire fleshes out the Connie character --who's grown greedy and lost since the death of her husband. And the legendary champion of method acting Lee Strasberg is wonderful as the sly and conniving Hyman Roth.

And that doesn't even scratch the surface.

Pacino is genius in this movie. He does so much with so little. Every gesture, every word is delivered with precision. He's become a shell of a man -- laser beam focused on his ultimate goal: legitimacy for his family, which he will pursue at all costs,  (spoiler alert) even it means the execution of his own brother.

This plot choice is profound even 40 years later. It's so cold and so irreversible. The eerie shot of Fredo alone in a little canoe with his killer and then the final moment of an older, even more isolated Michael peering out into nothingness -- one of the most striking endings of all time.

My Gemini nature always attracts me to films that deal with the duality of man -- and this movie just "gets it."

This is the Godfather film that keeps surprising me every time I see it, that I keep discovering new things to love about. And I think it's the film that holds up as the best of the three. Or, at least that's what I think now. The first movie is a great soap opera but this film is more expansive and ambitious. The third film is under-appreciated, it has its virtues, but it's not in the same league as the first two.

Gotta run -- more wine to drink!

'The Godfather': 30 reasons why it's one of my all-time favorites

The Godfather

My girlfriend and I are kicking off a Godfather movie marathon (yes, even Part III).

We're eating pizza, drinking red wine and trying very hard no to quote the movie as its playing.

I love this film. It's definitely got a case to make for being the best film ever made and I always have a ball every time I revisit it. I might actually prefer Part II, but more on that later.

Here are just a few reasons why it's one of my all-time favorites:

1) We all desperately don't want to be our parents and then we all eventually become them -- kind of the theme of the movie but also very much the reality of life.

2) This may be the best cast movie of all time. Every scene is packed with acting titans and in some scenes you get to watch Brando, Caan, Pacino, and Duvall at once -- incredible.

3) The Kay character (Diane Keaton) is secretly one of the most fascinating in this series. She is a slightly snobby WASP who is almost bemused by the Corleone family and yet when push comes to shove she benefits from the very excesses she seems to abhor.

Marlon Brando's Godfather make-up

4) There are few movie moments that excite me more than when Brando erupts in his scene with the Sinatra stand-in and yells "You can act like a man!" Greatest actor of all time? He just may have been.

5) It's pretty audacious to start an epic blockbuster with an extended series of scenes at an Italian wedding. And yet none of its boring and it beautifully sets up this incredible group of characters.

6) The horse head scene. It still gets me every time even though I know it's coming. I can't imagine what it was like to have seen this moment for the first time in 1972 and how shocking it must have been. It's just a perfectly staged and edited scene just like virtually every other moment in this movie.

7) Right now, my girlfriend is telling me I should do a movie blog about "awesome movie lawyers" mostly due to Robert Duvall's subtle but brilliant work in this movie. Caan has the showiest part and Pacino has the sexy one but Duvall is the glue. They all were nominated for Oscars and they all lost that year to Joel Grey in Cabaret -- go figure.

8) Brando pretty much disappears for the middle third of this movie and yet its a testament to his performance that you feel his presence throughout.

9) It's not a particularly gory movie but when the violence does occur Coppola makes it so unusual and specific (the dusty blood in the execution of McClusky, the knife in the hand of Luca Brasi) that you never forget it.

James Caan in The Godfather

10) Poor pathetic Fredo, I love how intensely John Cazale screams "Papa!" after Don Corleone is shot. Such a great character actor, Cazale tragically died in 1978. Every film he appeared in was nominated for best picture.

11) I love the mafia movie convention of being super friendly and nice to someone right before you have them executed. It's so sociopathic, it's almost funny. "Leave the gun, take the cannoli." Perfection.

12) I am a Sterling Hayden fanatic. He's got that great booming voice and imposing manner. He's great in this but also he's my favorite character in Dr. Strangelove. Also he's awesome in The Killing, The Asphalt Jungle and The Long Goodbye.

13) This movie unabashedly wants to you to root for someone who personally commits and/or orders murders in cold blood and you feel good doing it.

14) I think Michael Corleone's Italian bride was the first woman whose boobs I saw in a movie (palest nipples of all time). And that glorious love affair continues to this day.

15) It should be offensive, but I actually appreciate the casual racism in these films because it's authentic and an honest depiction of the contempt that some felt for people of color (at least at that time).

16) The Sicily sequence is just so sumptuous. Pacino has never looked more handsome and the cinematography is just gorgeous. These scenes actually slow down the pacing of the film and yet they feel essential.

17) The Sonny beatdown of Carlo, just one of the greatest movie moments ever. I love that this is the scene that probably made James Caan a superstar. Also, Carlo is like otherworldly awful -- he cheats on and beats a pregnant woman.

Al Pacino in The Godfather

18) Remember with VHS tapes when it was a longer movie they'd split into two? I remember my first tape would end after they execute Sonny in a death scene that is still shocking to this day. Seems fitting. The scene that follows with Duvall and Brando is a master class in underplayed emotion.

19) "Look how they massacred my boy." With the voice and prosthetics this shouldn't be so moving but Brando invests the line with such genuine feeling, it's truly heartbreaking.

20) I love the way Simonetta Stefanelli says the days of the week, both sexy and adorable.

21) I've always loved the Brando speech where he says "if he should be struck by a bolt of lightening...I'm going to blame some of the people in this room." One of my favorite monologues in movie history.

22) I love how smart and strategic Vito Corleone (and later, Michael) is. He is one step ahead of his enemies (most of the time). It's so much more enjoyable to watch characters who are clever in crime films.

23) Moe Green is an awesome character. He's only on screen for like two minutes and he's unforgettable. Also, one of the best death scenes ever.

24) The Vito Corleone funeral scene is fascination, Pacino does incredible work with his eyes -- just watching and measuring the reactions of his enemies when they approach his father's casket.

25) Coppola gets a lot of crap for casting his kids in his movies but their appearances here don't bother me at all and I totally appreciate his desire to preserve footage of them at this precious age for all time.

26) Pacino gives such a quiet performance, it's such a departure from his other roles.

27) That montage of mayhem crosscut with the baby's christening -- need I say more?

26) "Can't do it Sally." Amazing how Duvall delivers this line to Abe Vigoda.

27) I would have loved to have played that scene where Michael tells Carlo that he's finished. And the death scene that follows brutal.

28) The music in this movie is of course legendary but also when Coppola decides to use it is masterful.

29) When Pacino explodes on Keaton in the end, it's such a chilling sign of where his character is going.

30) There are so few movies where just the last shot is iconic but this film has one.

1994 Flashback: My top 10 from 20 years ago

Pulp Fiction

Let's all take a deep breath for a second and think about the fact that 1994 was twenty years ago -- that somehow seems and feels insane. At least to me.

I was much more cognizant of the quality of films by '94 although I wasn't a fully formed movie geek just yet. Still, even then I considered it a travesty that Forrest Gump (a cute but disposable movie) was awarded best picture over the clearly more substantive Pulp Fiction.

With the exception of that groundbreaking, highly influential film -- the year was more or less dominated by blockbusters.

This was the year Jim Carrey became a phenomenon. It was also the year Keanu Reeves became a legit leading man. And it was the year I kind of outgrew Disney movies -- I remember taking my little sister to see The Lion King and thinking "I'm too old for this shit."

Since my last throwback post (on my top 10 from 2004) was such a hit (or at least, by this blog's standards), I figured lighting might strike twice. So without further ado, my top 10 from 1994:

10) Red Rock West: I can already imagine you saying "Huh?" Yeah, this is one of those totally forgotten movies from Nicolas Cage's pre-superstardom (a.k.a. good) period. He plays a drifter unintentionally caught up in some dark dealings alongside a sexy Lara Flynn Boyle and a sinister Dennis Hopper. Lots of twists and intrigue packed into a tightly wound little film. Itching to be rediscovered.

9) Crooklyn: Spike Lee shows off his sensitive side in this touching tribute to his childhood in 1970s-era Brooklyn. The film centers around a stand-in for his little sister and the coming-of-age story has a stronger set of female characters than any previous (or post) Lee joint. The soundtrack is to die for and the cinematography is note perfect. I won't spoil the climax but I will say it gets me crying every time.

8) Speed: This movie was almost entirely premise drive -- and an absurd one at that -- but it somehow managed to be one of the most thrilling and enjoyable action movies of the decade. That's because, for once, Keanu Reeves seemed totally credible in a lead role. And he has genuine chemistry with Sandra Bullock, in her breakthrough role. Tying it all together was the dependable Dennis Hopper as a madman who's wired a bus to blow up.

7) Quiz Show: Robert Redford's classy period film has fantastic performances from Ralph Fiennes and John Turturro, an elegant script and a fascinating story (rigged game shows that took the nation by storm in the early stages of television). Despite being nominated for a slew of Oscars, this film just didn't connect at the box office. That's a real shame. It deserves to be rediscovered. It may be the golden boy's best directed film.

6) Ed Wood: Before Tim Burton and Johnny Depp's partnership got played out they did some highly original work together. This lovingly rendered biopic about the "worst director of all time" is a great tribute to old-fashioned movie makers and ill-advised dreamers everywhere. Depp says he based his performance on Ronald Reagan which is actually kind of brilliant.

5) Wolf: Director Mike Nichols and star Jack Nicholson attempted something totally surreal here and it worked. What if you made a totally realistic werewolf movie? Audiences were baffled when they came to see "crazy Jack" and instead saw a smart, sophisticated, even romantic thriller about a mild-mannered man who discovers his inner badass by becoming a monster. Bonus points to Michelle Pfeiffer for quite possibly being my biggest crush of the decade.

Michael Keaton in The Paper

4) The Paper: Perhaps another odd choice if you don't know about my abiding love for all things Michael Keaton and my career as a journalist. I've yet to see Rush, but for my money this is the best, most engaging Ron Howard film I've ever seen. This fast-paced, funny and moving dramedy about 24 hours in the life of a big city newspaper is a hoot, especially if you're a New Yorker. And how adorable is Marisa Tomei!?

3) Dumb and Dumber: Of all the Jim Carrey golden-era comedies this is the only one that really holds up for me (sorry Ace Ventura fans). This was back when the Farrelly brothers were on a delicious streak of deviously funny comedies that stretched the boundaries of good taste, but delivered the laughs. Carrey and Jeff Daniels are uproarious in this ode to mind boggling stupidity. I'm nervous about the sequel (why do we need it?) but this film is a blast.

2) The Shawshank Redemption: Before it became overplayed on TBS and TNT, this life affirming gem was just an underrated masterpiece. Morgan Freeman's sublime voice-over has become so iconic that it's almost become a parody over time. While some may find this prison break story corny but it works for me. They don't make movies like this anymore, sadly. Freeman should have beaten Hanks for best actor. There, I said it.

1) Pulp Fiction: I know this is sacrilege in some circles -- but I don't think this is Tarantino's best directed film. His work in Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained is far more polished. Nevertheless, no one can deny the power that this masterpiece still has. The movies needed a jolt of electricity in 1994 and Tarantino's non-linear comic crime epic accomplished that. He reminded us that John Travolta and Bruce Willis could act, made Samuel L. Jackson a movie star and inspired a whole new generation of filmmakers to look to the past in order to make the movies of the future.

First impressions after a stay in 'The Grand Budapest Hotel'

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Just got home from a screening of Wes Anderson's new movie The Grand Budapest Hotel and I wanted to share my first impressions of it with you -- without any spoilers I promise.

I should admit that my opinion could have been affected by the fact that I sat next to a fat, cackling, bearded hipster for the entire duration of this film. I mean he was one obnoxious son of a bitch. And yet, I enjoyed this film so much that this clown didn't ruin it for me.

That said, although critics are crowning this Anderson's greatest achievement to date, it wasn't my favorite of his films. Don't get me wrong, I loved it. But then again, I love of all of his films accept for The Darjeeling Limited.

This one (upon first viewing) ranks behind The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore, Moonrise Kingdom and Fantastic Mr. Fox for me but this is beyond a doubt the best film of this year so far and hopefully will stay in people's minds come next awards season (where Anderson's film have been criminally overlooked for years.) Here are a few more quick thoughts:

* Ralph Fiennes owns this movie. This is my favorite lead performance in an Anderson film since Gene Hackman in The Royal Tenenbaums. They pretty much never nominate comic roles for an Oscar but I can't imagine anyone topping his for the comedy performance Golden Globe.

*I love how Wes Anderson casts actors we never see enough in films, besides regulars like Bill Murray and Owen Wilson. He has great roles for amazing actors like Jeff Goldblum, F. Murray Abraham and Harvey Keitel.

*This may be the most visually splendid movie of Anderson's career, which is saying a lot.

*Anderson eschews his usual classic rock songs in this one and I think this film is better for it. It's a picture that beautifully evokes the period in which its set even if it jumps around in time.

*I love the way the film is framed. It's a story within a story within a story. You'll see what I mean when you see it.

*It has some nice little heartfelt moments of pathos but it never effected me as emotionally as Royal Tenenbaums or even Moonrise Kingdom. I'm not entirely sure why.

Those movies were also art directed within an inch of their lives and were thick in preciousness, but they just moved me more. This movie was more fun entertainment for me.

*This is a random thought but the make-up to make Tilda Swinton look like an old lady was incredible.

*Like most great movies, it's incredibly unpredictable and has more melancholy turns than I expected.

*I would love to see Wes Anderson work in a different, less dainty milieu. I wouldn't want him to change his signature style (the quick pans, dolly shots etc.) but I just think it would be cool to see his take on genre totally outside his comfort zone like a gangster film or a western.

*This movie does have a little bit more of a dark edge to it than the typical Anderson film, which may be why some critics are responding to it more. It earns it's R rating -- I'll put it that way.

*I love how all Anderson films have their own kind of heightened unrealistic dialogue that becomes totally quotable once the credits role. My girlfriend and I were saying "agreed" and "not agreed" when we got home (you'll understand what I mean once you've seen it).

So those are my first thoughts about this film. I am sure I will want to see it again but right now I'm just excited to finally have seen a great film in the theaters for the first time in a couple months. And this is definitely one to see on the big screen. I have no idea what the budget was for this one but it clearly looks like a lot of money well spent. I had so much fun visiting Wes Anderson's unique world of wonders, and I think you will too.