#58- Fargo

Quick recap: Based on a true story (not at all), the movie opens with Jerry Lundegaard in a lot of financial trouble. His solution is what most of us would think of in times of crisis: he hires a couple of criminals to kidnap his wealthy wife so that her father will put up ransom money of which he will get a share. Sounds fool proof, right? So, in the course of the kidnapping, 3 people are murdered. Marge, a small town cop, who also happens to be pregnant, takes the case.Much heartier than what she appears to be , Marge is determined to solve the mystery and save the day.

Fun (?) Fact: I’m sure that I could scrounge up an interesting fact or two, but instead I’m going to pass on what kept flooding my mind during the movie last night-Steve Buscemi’s eyes. There’s even a Tumblr devoted to photoshopping his eyes onto other people, which I say as if it were a surprise but really, there’s a Tumblr for everything.

For those of you who had already not planned on sleeping much tonight

My thoughts: I’m just going to get straight to the point here and say that I loved this movie. I’ve seen it before, many years ago, loved it then and I love it now. The only question that remains: Is it the best Coen brothers film?

I’ve always had an affinity for Raising Arizona because it was the first Coen brothers film I ever watched. That’s not to say that it isn’t enjoyable, but it has been my favorite by default. After rewatching Fargo,I don’t know what to think anymore. In the category of capturing a group of people perfectly, Fargo wins by a landslide. I could’ve watched two hours of various actors saying random things in a Minnesota accent and been just as satisfied. Especially since William H. Macy is involved. I have no idea if he is from the area, but I don’t care because he was spot on. Also, the scenes with Marge investigating the crime were some of my favorites. On the surface, she seems like she would be a pushover and so sweet, but that’s actually her advantage when it comes to getting information out of people. Even when she knows she is being lied to, she manages to keep her cool and continues the charade of being clueless. It just seems so…..Minnesotoan.

One of the trademarks I love about the Coen brothers is their attention to detail when it comes to telling a story. It might be something as simple as when Marge and Norm are in her office eating Arby’s or at the end of the movie when Gaear is eating his tv dinner and watching a soap opera. It all adds up to paint a picture of North Dakota that, if I ever visited, would most likely be disappointed that it isn’t like the movie.

I need this

So, back to the original question of ‘is it the best Coen brothers film’? The verdict is still out, sadly. I think it edges out my (now) former favorite, but I don’t think it would be fair to compare Fargo to a movie like No Country For Old Men. The point, I think, is that when you watch a Coen brothers film, you will be transported into a different world and so there is no point in comparing.

Final review: 5/5. A must see, most definitely. I would even go so far as to say that this is the movie you should start out with if you have never watched a Coen brothers film.

Up next: the Thin Red Line or Woman in the Dunes

#55- Dawn of the Dead

Quick recap: The undead have arrived and they are everywhere, just waiting to sink their teeth into some tender flesh. What better way to survive than holed up in a mid-70s shopping mall?

ok, so this is a mid-80’s shopping mall. But still. NOSTALGIA!

Fun (?) Fact: Tom Savini, who did all of the make-up and special effects for the film, worked with only a crew of 8. He and his crew applied makeup to about 200-300 extras every weekend during production.

My thoughts: I am SO over the zombie craze that has been going on the past few years. Zombie movies, zombie books, zombie shows, zombie 5K-WHY is that even a thing? I personally tend to find most zombies terrifying, but the proliferation of them in all forms of media has made them nothing more than an annoyance. I inwardly groaned as I put in the DVD for Dawn of the Dead, but realized about a third of the way through that this was exactly what I needed to appreciate the monster that is the zombie. It was breath of fresh air- or, about as fresh as you can get with dead people.

Watching the first part and seeing zombies getting their heads blown off did not interest me at first and the scenes of them tearing into people’s shoulders and arms was gory, but not scary. It wasn’t until the shopping mall that I could finally be creeped out. What I love about this portrayal of the zombie is that they are relentless. They aren’t overly aggressive, meaning they won’t jump on you from out of nowhere and bite you, but they do not give up. After everyone had been at the mall for a few months, there were STILL zombies pawing at the door, trying to come in. And anytime one of the characters got too close, the zombie wouldn’t speed up but instead just keep moving forward until he was ultimately successful. Watching the Mall Zombies shuffle around was humorous at times, especially when they were on the escalator, but by the end of the film, with Stephen having turned, it became truly frightening.

That’s some excellent zombie-ing, right there.

Now, as for the central point of the film-that a shopping mall is the best place to survive, I can see both sides of the issue. First of all, the malls of today are in no way equipped for long term living. Corporations have taken out all the gun shops and the only food you can find nowadays at a mall is Sbarro pizza and sometimes Cinnabon, if you are lucky. Let’s face it, we wouldn’t last long. Sure, I’d have my Old Navy Pullover to comfort me, but it isn’t good protection against a zombie. If I had to choose a modern day place, I’d go for something like the Amazon warehouse because I’m pretty sure that place would have everything you needed. My first instinct was to say Wal-Mart, but it is only one story and there aren’t that many good hiding places.

The theme of the movie that consumers are basically zombies is still spot on. Many times during the film, Peter mentions that the zombies come to the mall because they remember it and they feel like they need to be there and that is still true. Watch the news about Black Friday this year and when the picture of the shoppers clawing at the door appears, try to imagine everyone with a bluish tint and blood everywhere. It’s totally the same as a zombie!

I get it now. Best pop culture reference ever.

Final review: 5/5. This is a true zombie movie and what everyone else tries to be.

nightmares? Totally. I didn’t think the zombies were all that terrifying until about 3 in the morning when I swear I could hear shuffling upstairs.

Up next: just one more movie left for Horrorfest!

#52- Alien

Quick recap: The crew of the Nostromo, a cargo spaceship, must investigate a signal coming from nearby. What is initially interpreted as an SOS signal, the crew finds out was actually a warning they were listening to. The alien brought on board the ship wreaks havoc and murders everyone except Sigourney Weaver, because she’s a cat person.

It comforts me know I could survive an alien attack

It comforts me to know I could survive an alien attack

Fun (?) Fact: From IMDB: According to Ridley Scott in the DVD commentary, he had envisioned a moment in the ending scenes of Ripley and the alien in the space shuttle in which the alien would be sexually aroused by Ripley. Scott says that in the scene, after Ripley hides in the closet, the alien would find her and would be staring at her through the glass door. The alien would then start touching itself as if comparing its body to Ripley’s. The idea was eventually scrapped.

My thoughts: Alien is one of those movies I should’ve seen a long time ago, but never got around to actually sitting down to watch. When I saw it at the Drafthouse a couple of days ago, the manager of the theater asked everyone to raise their hand if they had never seen Alien before. Only one person raised his hand, as he was apparently more brave than I am when it comes to being publicly humiliated.

Alien also has the distinction of being so ingrained in pop culture, that I feel like I have seen it a million times already. There weren’t any scenes that really shocked me, save for the one where the crew finds out Ash is a robot. I really enjoyed that twist, especially adding in the fact that it was the government who had known and wanted the alien all along.

The alien itself was perfectly terrifying. I still don’t really understand it’s reproductive and incubation methods, but whatever. The facehugging scene creeped me out, as Ash describes what the alien is doing to Kane’s body. And of course, the chest bursting scene was gross but I had seen it parodied so many times that it didn’t bother me. There were parts of the movie that made it really hard to comprehend that Alien had been made in 1979. It’s amazing to see what special effects had to do to portray certain things, without the aid of computers to just draw it in.

Overall, I can’t really say much about this movie that hasn’t been said a billion times, and for good reason. Alien is the very definition of a ‘classic’ film that will live on for many more years. Although I wasn’t scared at any point, I enjoyed myself immensely and being able to watch it on the big screen made the experience even more enjoyable.

I was so excited to come up with this observation, only to find out that people already beat me to it.

Final review: 5/5. A perfect movie from beginning to end.

Nightmares: none this time, which kind of surprised me. I had a huge fear of aliens back when I was a kid, thanks to that show, Sightings, that would air late at night. Living in a rural area, I truly believed I would be abducted at any second.

Up next: Horrorfest continues!

#47- Rome, Open City

Quick Recap: So, Italy was in bad shape during World War II. This movie tells the story of citizens fighting Nazi forces and trying to take back their country. Among the characters: a pregnant woman, a priest, and a ragtag group of boys help to lead the resistance. It sounds like your regular uplifting fare until you remember that these are the Nazis and so this will never end well.

Fun (?) Fact: The film didn’t do so well when it premiered in Italy, mainly because the citizens had JUST gone through the horrifying events and weren’t looking forward to reliving them on the big screen. Italian audiences wanted escapism and Rome,Open City is just the opposite of that.

My thoughts: In case it hasn’t been spelled out well enough, this movie is BRUTAL. I knew it would be tough to watch because, you know, Nazis. But I wasn’t expecting this. After the credits, I immediately Googled what I could about the background of Rome,Open City and found that many of the characters are based off of real people. I think it was at this time that curling up into a ball sounded like the most plausible idea.

The first part of the movie is your typical wartime drama with the rebels quietly meeting up and forming a resistance and the enemy doing everything they can to stop them. One of the main characters, Pina , is a widow with a son and another baby on the way. She is set to marry Francesco. The two of them meet up with another patriot, Giorgio Manfredi, and attempt to help him continue fighting the Nazis while laying low. On the day of their wedding, Francesco gets captured and taken away to be tortured. As the truck drives off, Pina runs behind it, crying out for her love. The Nazis shoot and kill her while her young son watches. I think it’s safe to say that this is one of the most heartbreaking scenes in cinema and yet, IT GETS WORSE.

The other main character is Don Pietro, a priest fighting in the resistance. He is mostly involved in smuggling things to other fighters because as a priest, he is able to stay out after curfew. His motives stay in line with his faith because he believes in helping good defeat evil. He is well loved in the community, especially with a group of boys who also do their part to take down the Nazis. You can see where this is going. During the second part of the film, Don Pietro gets captured with Manfredi and must witness his friend’s torture and death. He is then sentenced to firing squad, where we come to the second most heartbreaking film in cinema history- the soldiers tasked with killing the priest deliberately miss their target so the Nazi officer gets impatient, pulls out a gun and shoots him in the head. Not bad enough? Those boys who loved the priest so much witness everything, including Pina’s son. And then the movie ends.

So, yes, it goes without saying that this movie is disturbing and horrifying. But it’s at least a little comforting to know that Rome was eventually liberated and the Nazis ultimately defeated. The movie reminded me of ‘A Bell for Adano’, written by John Hersey. That novel also takes place during World War II, in the town of Sicily and the two forces at war are the Americans and the Fascists. The citizens of the town only want their old life back, and that includes a bell that means so much to them. The two are similar because both feature strong citizens who love their country. They aren’t looking for anything spectacular. World War II was complicated in many ways and it’s easy to get caught up in the military history, but to me, the most interesting stories are of the ordinary people just trying to survive.

Final review: 5/5. But I don’t recommend watching it unless you like to Ugly Cry.

Up next: HORRORFEST

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1001 Movie Nights

Tag Archives: 5/5

#58- Fargo

#55- Dawn of the Dead

#52- Alien

#47- Rome, Open City

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