As a favor to one of my former RA’s, Stig Strombeck, I’m posting Volume 2 of my favorite movies by genre. Last time we tackled drama, comedy, horror, film noir, and action. Today we narrow the focus just a tad and I offer up three more genres to review:
1. Favorite Sports Film – BULL DURHAM (1988, Ron Shelton, Director)
Growing up in Chicago, baseball was my favorite sport. I was a Cubs fan through and through (still am, most of the time). And baseball continued to be my favorite sport throughout college. So when this movie came out in the summer of 1988, I knew I’d be going. Strangely enough, the first time I saw this movie, I didn’t like it. I thought it was too long and had too many plot shifts that didn’t make sense to me (I’ve since learned that Ron Shelton, by definition, sometimes has problems actually ending his films). But now that I’m an older, wiser person, I can appreciate why this movie is as special as it is. It gets to the heart and soul of what it means to be a baseball player, and how you can really love (and hate) the game. It dabbles in baseball superstitions, mentorship, and how winning can change a person. And then there’s the romance between Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins….and the eventual romance between Susan Sarandon and Kevin Costner. This is one of the mostly highly quotable movies OF….ALL…TIME.
2. Favorite Musical – WEST SIDE STORY (1961, Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise, Directors)
I think this is my favorite movie musical because my father loved it so much. My dad LOVED on-screen dancing. And this movie, in true wide-screen, has some of the most amazing dance sequences out there. Loosely based on ROMEO AND JULIET, two rival New York gangs fight it out for turf; meanwhile, a fella from the white gang falls in love with a lady from the Puerto Rican gang. Bad words are said. A couple people die. Love doesn’t conquer all…but it gives us hope. Although, sadly, I still have to tell myself it’s okay that Natalie Wood and Tony Beymer aren’t doing their own singing. Oh well. Nothing’s perfect.
3. Favorite Foreign Language Film –
This category is a tough one for me – see, for something to be considered a “favorite” in my eyes, it means you have to be able to watch it over and over again and never having the film “die” in your view. And I’ll be honest with you – I don’t think there’s a single foreign film out there that I’ve watched more than once. The reason being – they are subtitled! And you sort of have to “read” them. And this isn’t a bad thing – I would prefer to view a subtitled film in its native language than to view a film that has been dubbed in English. Having said all that, there are MANY foreign language films over the years that I’ve greatly enjoyed.
AMORES PERROS (2000, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu)
Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN (2001, Alfonso Cuaron)
THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY (2007, Julian Schnabel)
NO MAN’S LAND (2001, Danis Tanovic)
And I could list so many more. So what I would like to highlight in this section are two directors that produce films in languages OTHER than English – and I’m highlighting them because I’ve actually seen most of their films:
Pedro Almovodar – VOLVER (2006), TALK TO HER (2002), TIE ME UP! TIE ME DOWN! (1990), BAD EDUCATION (2004) – what I appreciate most about Pedro is that he’s not afraid to make women tough and smart; and he’s as good (if not better) as a writer than he is as a director. And he gave Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas their start. Can’t take that away J
Chan-wook Park – THIRST (2009), SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGENANCE (2002), OLDBOY (2003) – this man makes some seriously dark and disturbing movies…that I truly enjoy, although I should probably have my head examined for it. Many of his films focus on “pain and fear” – and there’s something to be said for a director who can evoke such interesting dynamics between characters.
So that should get us through another week. Stay tuned, Stig! I have WAY more to share with you!!
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