Tag Archives: 1990’s

#45- The Silence of the Lambs

Quick Recap: Clarice Starling, fledging FBI investigator, has been asked to interview one of the most notorious serial killers of all time- Hannibal Lecter. Although he is known to not talk to anyone, he takes a liking to Starling and decides to help her solve the case of another serial killer. Instead of just giving the FBI the information they need, Dr. Lecter gives clues in the form of anagrams and cryptic statements. In the end, Starling cracks the code and saves the day! Lecter, on the other hand, disappears to eat more faces. Awww.

There's a meme for everything! As well as fan fiction, but I'm not jumping down that rabbit hole tonight.

There’s a meme for everything! As well as fan fiction, but I’m not jumping down that rabbit hole tonight.

Fun (?) Fact: In interviews, Anthony Hopkins has said the voice of Lecter is a mix of Truman Capote and Katherine Hepburn.

My thoughts: In full disclosure, I must say that I saw this film back in high school and for some reason really loved it. I immediately went out and read the trilogy by Thomas Harris and also watched the other two movies in the series. Part of me is embarrassed by how much I took to the gruesome story of a serial killer, but then I see that there is a tv show called ‘Hannibal’ that is rather popular and I don’t feel so bad.

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So, in rewatching this movie years later, I can still see why so many people are drawn to its elements. Hell, I was even considering a career in law enforcement after watching Jodie Foster’s excellent portrayal of Starling. A tale of murder is as old as time, if I am allowed to be serious for a moment. It’s an act that most of us can never fathom and thankfully, never have any contact with. And so we are drawn to it. If you are going to write a book about a serial killer, which will later be an Oscar winning movie, might as well make it as gruesome and terrifying as possible, am I right? Give the people what they want. It reminds me of my brief job in high school, working at the public library in my tiny rural town. I used to love the Saturday shifts because it was so quiet and because the patrons that did come in were easy to check out. Most of the time I got two kinds of people on those days: The older women who came in with their paper bags full of trashy romance novels and the older men who came in with their paper bags full of trashy true crime novels. The limit for checking out those kinds of books was like 25 and I remember being so impressed by how quickly these people could get through so many of them in a week. I finally got up the nerve to ask an old man one day and he simply chuckled and responded that he never read the whole book, just ‘the good parts’.

Hannibal Lecter’s character is satisfyingly complex. I spent the entire movie being repulsed by him, only to then find myself rooting for him, and then being repulsed by the fact that I was rooting for him. Like for example, when he agreed to help the investigation. He was flown to another facility, only to then insult and offend the woman who’s daughter had been kidnapped by Buffalo Bill. I found myself laughing at the awfulness of the situation and the fact that Lecter was just being himself. In looking at trivia for ‘The Silence of the Lambs’, I was amazed to find out that Anthony Hopkin’s total screen time for the movie was a mere 16 minutes and yet most people who have never seen the movie know who Hannibal Lector is and may even be able to quote some lines.

In the end, this movie accomplishes what it came to do- it was terrifying. The most unsettling scene for me was when Lecter has escaped. It’s a complex plan, but at one point the police officers are in the elevator, riding with another officer that they believe has had his face eaten. All of a sudden, drops of blood start materializing on the man’s white bed sheet. I knew what was going to happen and yet I was still completely horrified. There is nothing better than a movie that delivers a satisfying shock like that.

Final review: 5/5. Even without Lecter, this is one of the scariest films I have seen. It’s not one that gave me nightmares, but it was deeply unsettling and I think that’s the worst kind of scary.

Up next: If…

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#30- Clerks

Quick Recap: Dante Hicks works at a convenience store, which seems awful enough. The story starts with him being called in to work after closing the store the night before. Thus begins the day from hell. His buddy Randal, who works next door at the video place, frequents the shop throughout the day to keep company and sometimes make things worse. There are also a wide variety of customers to add to the hellscape that is the Quick Stop. I mean, the movie is called ‘Clerks’. It’s about Clerks. I don’t know what you were expecting.

Kevin Smith is ok in my book because he understands the greatness of Degrassi.

Kevin Smith is ok in my book because he understands the greatness of Degrassi.

Fun (?) Fact: Knowing how this movie was produced made me appreciate it a little more. For example, the movie is filmed in the same convenience store Smith worked at, and he was still working there throughout the movie’s production. That’s rather impressive.

My thoughts: I’ve always seen this movie as more of a ‘guys movie’ rather than actual good cinema. Maybe it’s because almost every guy I have dated has attempted to get me to understand how profound this movie was. In fact, the first time I watched ‘Clerks’ was with a boy I had a major crush on in high school. Admittedly, I paid less attention to the movie and more to my feelings towards said boy. Moving on. At its surface, this is very much a guys movie, just as most romantic comedies are marketed to women. There is plenty of sexual humor and Star Wars philosophical discussion to tide almost everyone over. And that sort of thing just doesn’t appeal to me. I’m not a prude by any means, but I just didn’t find the discussions all that funny or enlightening. Especially the last scene which I won’t spoil here, but I just found gross. Unless Kevin Smith wasn’t trying to be funny and this was something he has dealt with and in that case, hats off to you, sir.

So one would think I just hated this movie based on the previous paragraph, but that’s not true. I felt a little guilty realizing all that I had missed the first time I watched it. But like I said, I was 18 and with a boy I liked and I had absolutely no experience in life as of yet. But now I’m older and although my minimum wage jobs weren’t as dire, I worked with people who had these experiences. People who were wonderful to talk to and smart, but they were either in a rut or had just enough to get by and enjoy life. I have no idea if that was the ‘point’ of the movie and I have no desire to look it up, but when presented with obstacles, everyone either falls into the ‘Dante’ camp or ‘Randal’ camp. I absolutely loved the fight between the characters at the end of the movie as Randal calls Dante out for all his melodrama. As he says, ‘I wasn’t even supposed to be here today!’, Randal has to remind him how much he brought on himself either through bad choices (cheating on his girlfriend) or being too uptight about things. Throughout the movie I saw Dante’s viewpoint of hell but after Randal talks to him, I realized that we create our own version of hell. Randal seems to be in just as much a dire situation as Dante, but he is aware of that and is happy enough with the situation. Maybe happy isn’t the best word to use, but he has made peace. After all, he’s just a video store clerk and and Dante is a convenience store clerk. Monkeys could be trained to do their job. So, you either stress over it or survive the shift and go out and be happy. That’s a pretty good lesson for a ‘guy movie’.

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Final Review:  3/5. I’m glad I rewatched this when I was older but it doesn’t endear itself enough to me to watch it again.Then again, this is a favorite movie of my husband so I might not have a choice.

Up next: Splendor in the Grass

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#26- Reversal of Fortune

Quick recap: In the early 1980s, Clause von Bülow was found guilty for attempted murder of his wife Sunny. It was a sensational trial and the public was quick to deem Bülow guilty before the trial even got off of the ground. The movie tells the story of the appeal process, which in itself is an adaptation of the book, ‘Reversal of Fortune’, written by Alan Dershowitz, who took the case on. Dershowitz is given the task of defending a man everyone thinks is guilty. He creates a team of top notch lawyers to dissect the previous case and come up with an appeal to get Bülow acquitted.

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ok, so Bülow is a little bit creepy…

Fun(?) Fact: The real Sunny Bülow went into a coma in 1980 and stayed in one until she died in 2008.

My Thoughts: If there is one thing Americans love, it is all the sensational trials that get plastered over the daily news. And even more than sensational trials, Americans love to watch movies based on books based on those trials. So naturally, even though this movie is considered one of the 1001 movies to see before you die, I was expecting some glossy retelling, like you would find on Lifetime.

Oh,Lifetime, never change.

Oh,Lifetime, never change.

So, I was pleasantly surprised that the movie turned out so interesting. Being a geek about such things, I was more excited learning about the appeal process and what is needed rather than the case itself. I think that is the point of the movie: not to show that Bülow really was innocent, but to show the legal process in reality. When the process isn’t followed correctly, guilty people walk free.

Which is another thing I think set this movie apart from the others- that we are left to draw our own conclusions as to what put Sunny Bülow into a coma back in 1980. The move is narrated by Glenn Close, who plays Sunny Bülow. She tells the story as she is in a coma, which reminds me of the narration on Desperate Housewives, which was done by the main character who committed suicide. Or maybe it reminded me of that show because Felicity Huffman is in ‘Reversal of Fortune’. Reversal_of_Fortune_43813_Medium

Although Clause von Bülow was acquitted of all charges, he acts guilty as hell. Jeremy Irons plays him like a british zombie undertaker, which I don’t know if that’s an acting thing, but it describes the character well. He also makes inappropriate jokes about injecting his wife with insulin so that she falls into a coma. I think Dershowitz’s point in taking the case is that innocent jerks need lawyers too. The state botched the case in several ways and excluded evidence they shouldn’t have  because this guy oozes guilty. I think it’s a fair reminder for all those people that sit on the couch, watching these trials and pretending to be the judge and executioner- you only see what you shown. There may be more to a story.

Final review: 4/5. For people who love Lifetime movies, I’d recommend this as a quality alternative with some meat. It’s a compelling story for anyone and it makes the rich look bad, which is always fun.

How/ Where I watched it: Netflix DVD with a bomber of the Leprechaun Strawberry Seasonal Cider. SO GOOD.

Up next: The Long Goodbye- interestingly enough, I’ve never seen the movie but John Williams did the soundtrack so I’m familiar with that aspect.

 

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#24-Crumb

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Quick recap: Robert Crumb is an underground comic artist, known for his psychedelic characters as well as sexualized images of women and cats. That’s right, Crumb is the creator of Fritz the Cat. This documentary focuses on his sad upbringing and his two brothers who have mental illnesses. There are interviews with Crumb himself as well as former girlfriends and wives.

Fun (?) Fact: I knew nothing about Crumb or his work before this film so everything was a big revelation. Despite creating some of the weirdest comics around, Crumb has a semi-normal life with his wife and daughter.

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My thoughts: As I stated above, I knew absolutely knew nothing about Crumb before watching the film but after watching for just a couple of minutes, easily recognized his work. If a documentary’s purpose is to shed light on an unknown or little known subject, this one did so perfectly. There were no voiceovers and just a couple of ‘experts’ interviewed. Most of the film is Crumb living out his life or talking to his two brothers.

Crumb is known for creating some of the most controversial comics of his time. Many follow a theme of degrading women to some degree as well as some racist characters thrown in for good measure. Every bone in my body should be disgusted by his work, but I’m not. The documentary does a thorough job explaining some of the reasons Crumb chooses these subjects. His childhood was awful and the interviews with the brothers are heartbreaking to watch, not just because of the mental illness, but because they have just as much talent as Crumb does. And yet, he is the only one able to function in the world.

Every critique of Crumb that could be made already has, so I’ll just focus on the film aspect. Throughout the film I saw Crumb as more of a goofy, geeky guy rather than sexual deviant as some have called him. This film was made in the early 90’s, but Crumb fits in among the indie and hipster crowd. He has an insane amount of records and hates the idea of his work becoming popular. In one interview, Crumb talks about how he was starting to get noticed and had many offers coming in and in response to that, started drawing the truly perverse stuff.

Part of me wants to meet Crumb and just give him a hug because he has had so many bad things happen, but a larger part of me is just in awe of how much he has accomplished and how he has used his talent. His drawings were popular in the pre internet stage when people with the same fetishes and kinks had to really reach out to find others like them. Now there is something for everyone with the click of a button. Crumb thrived in a time when his personality and sexual desires drove people away. There is one interview where a girl comes up and tells him that she stumbled upon his comics when she was younger and how much it disturbed her. Crumb replied that he draws so that someone can be helped and get something out of it. It’s not for everybody, but his art is still important. crumb_200-ee4b225b7a1238c7b02f5e24e682650bfc015dfb-s6-c30

Final review: 4/5. This movie was rated R for good reason. If you can get past all the sexual stuff of which there is A LOT, then you’ll find that this is one of the finest documentaries out there. Truly fascinating.

Where/How I watched it: Netflix, sipping on Karbach’s Weisse Versa. This was my first time to pour from can to pint glass and I was rather proud that I didn’t spill!

Up Next: Written on the Wind

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