Say the name of the movie five times quickly. I dare you! You'll sound like you should be wearing a helmet and drool cup (much like the Academy should have been when they chose the winners that year).
Big winner for the 72nd Academy Awards? American Beauty! What? A movie about Kevin Spacey panting over a nubile neighbor is nominated for eight awards and wins five. How is it possible that the screenplay for American Beauty wins over "The Sixth Sense"? OK OK..I should back off a bit I guess, but really. I love Kevin Spacey. I've seen most of what he's done and he's a great actor. And, I do mean great but c'mon. Of course, I should be prepared I suppose, "The Kids Are All Right" may well walk away with best picture in a few days.
M. Night Shyamalan is a remarkable talent. He recovered from the box office disaster of "Wide Awake" to write and direct Sixth Sense which was nominated for six awards (Picture, Original Screenplay, Director, Supporting Actor & Actress and Film Editing). It won zero. Way to go, members of the academy. I can't comment on the film editing since I don't have the expertise, but I would have thought that of the best movies for the year (American Beauty, Cider House Rules, The Green Mile, The Insider and The Sixth Sense) that the only film to be on the AFI's top 100 might have gotten the nod for something. The only other film I would rank nearly as high is "The Green Mile" which I watch every few years.
Blech. Moving on, however, we discuss the film itself. Lots of spoilers here so if you haven't seen it, don't read any further. Sixth Sense can be viewed as a love story, a story of making amends and a story about the continuity of love. I think it's easy to say the movie is just a supernatural thriller with a plot twist. It's about the redemption of Malcolm (Bruce Willis), his love for his wife Anna (Olivia Williams), and the need for him to say that she wasn't second. It's about the continuity of love, such as in a mother's wish to ensure her daughter (Toni Collette) knows the answer to questions that have deep significance.
Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) has the gift to see the dead. As the movie's tag line states, "Not every gift is a blessing." Early in the movie we're given hints that Cole has had this "gift" for his entire life. When his mother looks at photos of Cole there are artifacts in the photos going back to him as a toddler. No wonder the kid is struggling. The psychologist works with him, and finally Cole tells him his secret. "I see dead people", delivered in a slightly breathless fashion. This phrase has since become a part of our culture. Deliver a quote from American Beauty - (sorry I digress). Together, Malcolm and Cole work with each other and Malcolm suggests the dead people might "go away" if Cole listens to them. Helps them. When he makes this transition things do get better. He confides in his mother and is able to deliver a message.
Osment really played his role remarkably. We can all hope the trouble in 2005 (smacked up a car and had to go attend "drinking classes" as some call them) is over with and he can make that transition to adult actor. I certainly hope he can and does.
The films ends with hope. Malcolm is able to tell his wife his message. Cole delivers the message for his Grandmother and we're left with the sense he'll be fine helping the dead find closure.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Rocky (1976) #57
Say "YO Adrian" and everyone knows what you're talking about. Few movies have made the same impact on pop culture as the "Rocky" franchise. It turned Sylvester Stallone from a B and soft core porn movie star to a major box office draw. The film was made for around a million dollars and grossed more than 250 million. Amazingly that puts it to only number 7 on the list of best return on investment for films at least according to "The Numbers" but it's a little rough to compete with "Paranormal" with a minuscule budget of under 20K and a gross of almost 200 million. Rocky was a phenomenon and has stood the test of time, so far, very well. Most interesting to me is some of the back story and lesser known items about the movie. It was supposed to be a darker, or at least it was written that way originally, movie. Balboa threw the fight in the original screenplay because he didn't want to be part of the fight game any longer.
The movie was inspired by a fight between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner. Wepner was given the opportunity to fight Ali for the championship. Wepner wasn't expected to show well at all and he was a plodding fighter much as Rocky Balboa was. Wepner almost went the distance but was TKO'd late in the 15th round. I've watched the video of that final round and Wepner is lucky Ali didn't hit him again like Tyson probably would have. Wepner was just plain done. Anyway...Stallone saw that fight and started to write "Rocky". The name was from Rocky Marciano but the story was about Ali vs. Wepner.
The movie's casting is interesting. At one point Susan Sarandon was considered to play Adrian but she was too good looking. Burt Reynolds, Robert Redford, Ryan O'Neal and James Caan were all suggested by the studio but Stallone successfully appealed to the producers to play the title role. I don't think any of those other actors on the list could have done the job as well. The part just fit Stallone I think. Answer this honestly: Could you imagine anyone else playing any of the major parts? What if Mickey wasn't the penguin (Burgess Meredith) or Paulie wasn't Burt Young? Does that mean the casting was that good or is it just we have grown used to it?
Rocky was the sleeper hit of 1976. It was nominated for ten Oscars and walked away with Best Picture, Best Director and Best Editing. You can say what you like about Stallone but he hit this one WAY out of the park both with his performance and his writing.
There are parts of the move that are better than others, of course. There's a scene where Rocky and a teenage girl are walking home which really has no relevance to the rest of the movie, but I suspect the director was looking for another reason to use his new cool steadicam. This wasn't the first movie to use a steadicam rig but it was close. But I dare anyone to not feel a tingle when you hear "Gonna Fly Now" by Tom Conti rise in volume as Rocky runs up the steps to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. And remember this is more than 30 years after its making. The movie as a whole just works. Rocky is the quintessential underdog . He's a nice guy who finally gets a break and forgives all the slights around him from Mickey's plea to manage him to Paulie's treatment of him and Adrian. He's what everyone thinks they could be deep down.
The movie was inspired by a fight between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner. Wepner was given the opportunity to fight Ali for the championship. Wepner wasn't expected to show well at all and he was a plodding fighter much as Rocky Balboa was. Wepner almost went the distance but was TKO'd late in the 15th round. I've watched the video of that final round and Wepner is lucky Ali didn't hit him again like Tyson probably would have. Wepner was just plain done. Anyway...Stallone saw that fight and started to write "Rocky". The name was from Rocky Marciano but the story was about Ali vs. Wepner.
The movie's casting is interesting. At one point Susan Sarandon was considered to play Adrian but she was too good looking. Burt Reynolds, Robert Redford, Ryan O'Neal and James Caan were all suggested by the studio but Stallone successfully appealed to the producers to play the title role. I don't think any of those other actors on the list could have done the job as well. The part just fit Stallone I think. Answer this honestly: Could you imagine anyone else playing any of the major parts? What if Mickey wasn't the penguin (Burgess Meredith) or Paulie wasn't Burt Young? Does that mean the casting was that good or is it just we have grown used to it?
Rocky was the sleeper hit of 1976. It was nominated for ten Oscars and walked away with Best Picture, Best Director and Best Editing. You can say what you like about Stallone but he hit this one WAY out of the park both with his performance and his writing.
There are parts of the move that are better than others, of course. There's a scene where Rocky and a teenage girl are walking home which really has no relevance to the rest of the movie, but I suspect the director was looking for another reason to use his new cool steadicam. This wasn't the first movie to use a steadicam rig but it was close. But I dare anyone to not feel a tingle when you hear "Gonna Fly Now" by Tom Conti rise in volume as Rocky runs up the steps to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. And remember this is more than 30 years after its making. The movie as a whole just works. Rocky is the quintessential underdog . He's a nice guy who finally gets a break and forgives all the slights around him from Mickey's plea to manage him to Paulie's treatment of him and Adrian. He's what everyone thinks they could be deep down.
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