Author Archives: Keith Garlington

The Ten: Most Iconic Movie Characters Blogathon

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The Ten Most Iconic Movie Characters Relay Race

I can’t tell you how excited I was when Nostra from My Filmviews asked me to be the first person to participate in his newest Blogathon Relay. If you aren’t familiar with My Filmviews it is a great place for movie reviews, features, and great actor/actress visual spotlights. Please check out the site. Trust me, it’s well worth it.

Nostra’s entire relay concept is brilliant and it’s one of my favorite ideas for a blogathon. This particular relay was very appealing to me. It revolves around the most iconic movie characters in cinema history. Ooooh this was tough for me. After a few days of laborious deliberation I had my choices narrowed to three: two who were sentimental favorites and the eventual winner.

Now before I jump in, here are the official blogathon rules from Nostra: A list of 10 iconic movie characters has been made. That list will be assigned to another blogger who can then change it by removing one character (describing why they think it should not be on the list) and replace it with another one (also with motivation) and hand over the baton to another blogger. Once assigned that blogger will have to put his/her post up within a week. If this is not the case the blogger who assigned it has to reassign it to another blogger. After you have posted your update leave the link in the comments here and I will make sure it gets added to the overview post.

Before I make my addition and subtraction let’s take a look at the list of iconic movie characters that currently occupy the Top Ten:

Indiana Jones

Ellen Ripley

Terminator

Darth Vader

James Bond

The Tramp

Tony Montana

E.T.

Rocky Balboa

Jules Winnfield

Definitely some iconic movie characters on this list and removing one proved to be more difficult than I imagined. I eventually narrowed it down to two. That didn’t make the choice any easier but such are the rules of the relay. Someone had to go.

REMOVED: Jules Winnfield

JULESYes that look he is giving scares me as I type this. Samuel L. Jackson without a doubt gives us an amazing character that really stood out in Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction”. But the word that kept sticking in my head was ICONIC. Winnfield is fun, entertaining, and you can’t take your eyes off of him, I’m not certain that I would place him among those who we call movie icons. When I think of the impact others from this list have made I just don’t think Jules quite makes it to that level. Great character but not quite iconic.

Whew, now that the unpleasant part is done we get to the equally difficult but much more enjoyable part. I get to add a replacement who I think truly represents a movie character icon.

ADDED: “Dirty” Harry Callahan

DIRTY HARRY

When I think of an iconic film character I think of someone who has become synonymous with movies and pop culture. Someone who was not only popular during their time but who still is well known and recognized today. One of my genuine favorites is “Dirty” Harry Callahan. Throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s Clint Eastwood starred as Callahan in five movies. As a grumpy, non-conformist San Francisco police inspector, Callahan blasted his way through police red tape and literally through an assortment of bad guys. Armed with his signature .44 Magnum and that unmistakable Clint squint, Callahan became a big screen icon who spanned two decades. He’s left us with so many memorable scenes and of course those memorable lines such as “Do you feel lucky, punk?” and “Go ahead, make my day.” If that doesn’t point to an iconic movie character I don’t know what does!

So there you have my subtraction and my replacement. Another special thanks to Nostra for including me. It was a ton of fun thinking this one over and coming to my conclusions. Now it is time for me to pass the torch. I’m happy to pass the baton to my pal Ruth from Flixchatter (click the banner to link to her phenomenal site).

FLIXRuth will not only bring in our first bit of female perspective but she also has a great taste in movies. I can’t what to see what she is going to bring to the table. Take it away Ruth!

REVIEW: “Prince Avalanche”

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PRINCE

Good luck trying to classify David Gordon Green’s “Prince Avalanche”. Green directed and wrote the screenplay for this odd little independent film that is part drama, part comedy, and part offbeat character study. It was inspired by an Icelandic picture titled “Either Way” only here it takes place in an isolated woodland area in Texas. It’s a 2013 film that didn’t get much press and brought in less than $200,000 during its very limited release. But now word of the film is starting to ease out and that’s a good thing.

Paul Rudd plays the starched, tightly wound Alvin. He’s a highway worker who hires his girlfriend’s airheaded but well-intentioned brother Lance (Emile Hirsch) to help him paint yellow traffic lines on a long stretch of isolated roads. The roads wind through a forest area that has recently been ravaged by wildfires. This is the dreary, near apocalyptic landscape where the entire film takes place. We just follow along watching Alvin and Lance go through their workday. We sit with them at their camp enjoying a plate of grilled fish and coffee. The story is truly that simple but Green is quite clever in how he opens up these characters to his audience. It’s amazing what all we pick up just by listening to their many conversations.

AVALANCHE

There are a number of pleasant but telling scenes early in the film. It becomes clear that Alvin and Lance are distant. In many ways they’re very different people and they obviously don’t have a longstanding relationship. Watching the slow-moving male bonding is good fun and it tosses in several well-conceived laughs. But it also connects us to these characters so that we are invested once things get rough. And they do get rough. The two personalities clash and some humorous scenes follow. But these problems end up revealing a lot to each one about themselves. That’s when the true meaning of this film surfaces.

This is a slow and meditative story that spends a lot of time on simple observation. Just watching and listening. Both Rudd and Hirsch are fantastic They both unwrap these two characters exposing their charms and faults with great clarity. Alvin is a man who desperately needs to break out of this lonely world he has created for himself. In it he sees what he wants and ignores important elements to life. Lance needs to realize he is no longer a child. He has to grow up and take responsibility. These two very different men with very different problems are actually in a very similar boat.

“Prince Avalanche” is an independent film through and through. David Gordan Green adapts and directs this light but crafty picture that made me laugh often. But it also develops two really good lead characters who despite their eccentricities are very human in more regards than you may think. This is a tightly made film that has heart and humor. I really appreciate that.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

REVIEW: “Veronica Mars”

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VERONICA

It’s hard for me to pinpoint exactly what stirred my interest in the recent television-to-big screen movie “Veronica Mars”. I have never watched a second of the UPN and later CW television series. In fact I had no idea what the show was about or who Veronica Mars was. I had also heard practically nothing about the movie itself, how it ties into the series, and if a prior knowledge of the show was essential to understanding the film. So what on earth was it that drew me to see “Veronica Mars”?

I finally concluded that one of my attractions to the project was the perky and infectious Kristen Bell. She is certainly not what you would call a top-tier actress and she has made her share of stinker films. Yet there has always been something about her that I find fun. I was also attracted to the story behind how the film was eventually made. Some six years after the show was cancelled, show creator Rob Thomas and Bell started a fundraiser via Kickstarter in hopes of bringing “Veronica Mars” to the big screen. After a month the campaign had earned over $5.7 million from donors and Warner Brothers picked it up for distribution.

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The film starts out with a brief narrated summary of the series mainly intended for newbies like me. Nine years have passed and Veronica (Bell) has moved out of Neptune, California. She lives in New York City, has a great boyfriend, and is on the verge of landing a prominent job at a prestigious law firm. But then she hears the news that a former classmate and current self-destructive rock star has been murdered and Veronica’s ex-boyfriend Logan (Jason Dohring) has been accused of committing the crime. Veronica agrees to go back to Neptune to help Logan select the best council for the upcoming trials.

But of course if that is all there was this would be one boring movie. While back in Neptune Veronica runs into many of the same headaches and conflicts as before – the people who made her high school life miserable, the high society arrogance, and the unbridled corruption of the local sheriff’s department. On the good side she gets to spend time with her private detective father (Enrico Colantoni) and reconnect with few good friends she left behind. There is clearly a lot of connections that make these relationships meaningful – connections that saw their genesis in the television series. But writer and director Rob Thomas does a good job of giving us the general idea of who these people are.

And then there is the murder case. Soon Veronica finds herself drawn into the mystery and the revelations of small clues are just enough to keep her in Neptune a little longer. Well, the clues and Logan. I know nothing about their past relationship and their reconnection is one of the aspects of the film that suffered (from the perspective of someone unfamiliar with the original material). They do have a nice chemistry and you genuinely get the sense that Veronica wants to help this old friend. There are also a number of other characters that pop up as well as an assortment of cameos.

VERONICA2

“Veronica Mars” is definitely a budget film. Everything about it feels like a television show and it never rises above standard television production value. The camera work, the dialogue, the story structure – it all feels like it could have melded right in with the TV series. But is that automatically a bad thing? Considering the budget constraints and its television roots, “Veronica Mars” actually feels right at home. More importantly it tells a good and intriguing story. There are momentary contrivances and the occasional strained dialogue, but ultimately the movie works.

Do you have to be knowledgeable of the TV series to enjoy “Veronica Mars”? Thankfully no. But there were plenty of times where I felt out of the loop (I still don’t know what marshmallows have to do with anything). It certainly doesn’t lean on cinematic grandeur nor is the script without a few bumps. But “Veronica Mars” does deliver where it counts. It’s entertaining, Bell is fantastic, and I was engaged with it from the start. It’s clear that a lot of heart was behind the project and I tip my hat to the filmmakers, the stars, and the fans who had the passion to make a movie like this happen. And don’t worry, the pieces were definitely put in place for yet another trip to Neptune.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS

5 Phenomenal Movie Police Partners

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PHENOM 5

If I asked you to count how many cop movies you’ve seen in your lifetime it would be a difficult task. Policemen of all types have found their ways into countless movie storylines spanning a number of genres. Today I’m looking at some of cinema’s best police pairings. Now I’m not just looking at your standard buddy-cop stuff. I’m listing police partners that I found the most compelling for a variety of reasons. Obviously with so many to choose from I wouldn’t call this the definitive list. But I do firmly believe that these five movie police partners are certainly phenomenal.

#5 – Harris and Hoyt (“Training Day”)

TRAINING

Talk about a rough first day. Ethan Hawke plays Jake Hoyt, a rookie cop during his first day as a narcotics officer. He is paired with a seasoned street-savvy veteran Detective Alonzo Harris played by Denzel Washington. The movie takes place during Hoyt’s first 24 hours on the job. Harris quickly initiates him into the dark and violent narcotics scene mainly by exposing his own vile corruption. Hoyt wants to do the right thing. Harris is rotten to the core. That makes for one mesmerizing and intense partnership.

#4 – Mills and Summerset (“Se7en”)

SEVEN

David Fincher’s crime thriller “Se7en” is about as dark as it gets. With a serial killer who patterns his murders after the seven deadly sins on the loose, two detectives are put together to track him down. Brad Pitt plays the young and impulsive Mills while Morgan Freeman plays the cautious veteran. The story grabs you from the start but another reason the film works so well is the great chemistry between Pitt and Freeman. I really went for these two which makes the movie’s big ending all the stronger.

#3 – White and Exley (“LA Confidential”)

LA

Yes I know there is technically a third police partner involved in “L.A. Confidential” but I really want to focus on the strained and sometimes violent partnership between Guy Pierce’s Exley and Russell Crowe’s Bud White. Frequent readers of this blog know that these are two of my favorite working actors and their ability to relay the friction of these two cops is brilliant. Along with Kevin Spacey’s Jack Vincennes, a group of very different policemen find themselves in a seedy noir world of corruption and Hollywood sleaze.

#2 – Tibbs and Gillespie (“In the Heat of the Night”)

HEAT

They may not have been partners by choice but Philadelphia detective Virgil Tibbs and Sparta, Mississippi police chief Bill Gillespie had one of the most tense but compelling police partnerships in cinema history. This 1967 mystery/drama dealt with an assortment of issues but the anchor of the movie was the strained relationship between these two cops. Hampered by their own personal prejudices and a very unhappy local citizenry, Tibbs and Gillespie gave us one great scene after another.

#1 – Riggs and Murtaugh (“Lethal Weapon”)

LETHAL

I’m not sure if any two people define the ‘buddy cop’ subgenre better than Mel Gibson and Danny Glover did in their hugely popular “Lethal Weapon” series. There was such a great chemistry between these two guys. Riggs is the unhinged but good-hearted man with a ton of emotional baggage. Glover is the safe, by-the-books family man who is looking forward to retirement. The camaraderie that forms between these two polar opposites is what gives the films crazy humor and wild action its fantastic appeal.

So those are five choices of great movie police partners. What do you think of my list? Do you see some that I missed? Please take time to share your thoughts on this list and others that you would include.

REVIEW: “The Defiant Ones”

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Classic Movie Spotlight

DEFIANTStanley Kramer’s “The Defiant Ones” opens with a prison transport truck on a dark and rainy night. The guards in the cab are distracted by two fighting prisoners which causes them to lose control and roll into the ditch. With a heavy rain falling two men stumble out of the prison truck. They take off running, shackled together arm to arm, a white man and a black man. Each have their own prejudices and each have a hatred towards the other. The question becomes will they escape the law or will they kill themselves first?

Kramer was known for making what some call “message movies”. Throughout his acclaimed career he addressed a number of social and political issues. “The Defiant Ones” takes a candid look at racism through two fascinating characters and a story that allows for a pointed but entertaining approach to the subject. Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier handle the two lead roles and it doesn’t take long to see that these two men hate each other. Constant insults and unflattering nicknames such as “Colored” and “Joker” make up the bulk their early conversations.

DEFIANT1

The shackles that bind them together serves as an interesting metaphor. I won’t spoil it by going into detail but it was clearly the intent of Kramer and writers Harold Jacob Smith and Nedrick Young (Young had been blacklisted at the time. In fact both writers won Oscars for the film and Young’s award went to his pseudonym Nathan E. Douglas). On one hand the movie is a thriller about two escaped convicts and the manhunt to find them. But the social aspect can’t be ignored and unlike some of the more heavy-handed approaches that we see, “The Defiant Ones” looks at this subject through a smart and effective lens.

Tony Curtis wasn’t the first choice to star in the picture. Kramer insisted that Poitier be his man but conflicts involving Robert Mitchum and Marlon Brando, both in the running to star in the film, made that a problem. Mitchum eventually turned down the role and Kramer maneuvered his filming so that Brando had to drop out due to prior obligations. This opened the door for the casting of Curtis. I’ve always been mixed when it comes to Tony Curtis but he delivers a fantastic performance. His character’s arrogance and unbridled racism is the catalyst for the animosity between the two. Curtis slides into the role and sells it nicely.

DEFIANT2

But Kramer’s main choice Sidney Poitier was the real standout for me. Poitier is often looked at as a pioneer for African-Americans in the film industry. He certainly is that. But he was also a brilliant actor and we see it in this film. Poitier portrays a tough and rugged guy who has clearly been hardened by his experiences. There isn’t an ounce of insincerity from Poitier and I found his character compelling from the start. Both he and Curtis received Best Actor Oscar nominations (both would lose to David Niven for “Separate Tables), but for me Poitier is the highlight of the picture.

“The Defiant Ones” is also a visually stunning film thanks to Sam Leavitt’s Oscar-winning cinematography and Kramer’s sharp direction. A strong supporting cast featuring Theodore Bstraight ikel and Cara Williams (both of whom also received Oscar nominations) add even more quality. This is a smart and crafty movie that manages to be reflective and insightful. But it’s also highly entertaining as a thriller and it rarely takes its foot off the pedal. It hooked me from the opening scene.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS

REVIEW: “The Place Beyond the Pines”

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PLACE Poster

The title may make it sound like a high-minded ethereal exercise, but “The Place Beyond the Pines” is actually an ambitious movie that is one part cautionary tale and one part complex family drama. The film reunites its star Ryan Gosling with director and co-writer Derek Cianfrance who previously worked together on “Blue Valentine”. This is certainly a different kind of movie with many more layers and a much broader vision. That doesn’t always equal a better movie but in this case Cianfrance definitely takes a step up and his new film almost reaches the lofty heights it aims for.

“The Place Beyond the Pines” can basically be broken down into three parts. First we meet a motorcycle stunt performer named Luke Glanton (Gosling). He’s a tattooed, chain-smoking loner who goes town to town with a traveling carnival. During an annual stop in upstate New York Luke learns he has fathered a child with a local waitress named Romina (Eva Mendes). He decides to quit the carnival and stick around hoping to take care of son, but with no money or job that becomes difficult. He strikes up a friendship with Robin (Ben Mendelsohn) a local mechanic with an affection for robbing banks. A few bad choices later and Luke finds himself in a pretty tough spot.

PLACE BEYOND THE PINES

Luke’s story connects to that of a young local police officer named Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper). The second part of the film focuses on Avery after he is injured in the line of duty. He struggles with the actions that led to his injury and the “hero” tag that he has been given. As he recovers he fights to stay connected to his wife and young son. He also faces a battle between his moral conscious and some shady goings-on by his friends on the police force.

The third part of the film jumps ahead 15 years but to tell anything else about it would be doing a disservice to the viewer. Suffice it to say this is a film about two men, two families, two fathers, and two sons whose lives are veritably intertwined. The three segments each have their own unique tone and feel to them yet the connection between all three is always there. This was a bold approach to storytelling and I certainly can appreciate Cianfrance’s ambition. But the risk would only work if all three segments were equally good and unfortunately that’s not the case.

My favorite of the three “chapters” (for lack of a better word) was the first one which focused on Gosling’s character. This was a good surprise for me because unlike many people I’m not sold on him as an actor. We get a lot of his normal routine here – brooding, emotionless stares, and a lot of mumbling. But it actually fits a lot better with this character and Gosling does throw in a few variations that we rarely get from him. The story is compelling and features a gritty realism. I loved Mendelsohn here and Mendes is very good as well.

Place2

I also liked the second act which focused on Bradley Cooper’s character. It’s drastically different but deeply connected to what we’ve already seen. The contrasts in the lives of these two men are jarring yet there are similarities which I will let you sort out for yourselves. It’s during this chapter that the film does begin to slow down a bit but it still maintains a strong dramatic pull. But the final act tries to be a little too clever and the contrivances that are employed are all too obvious. There are parts of the final third that do work but as a whole the story becomes less interesting and it’s here that I began to feel the trudge of the movie’s 140 minute running time.

So what do I make of “The Place Beyond the Pines”? Ultimately it was a better movie than I anticipated but not one that fully meets its own high expectations. The camerawork is fantastic and the performances are solid across the board. Also, I never begrudge a filmmaker from making bold choices, but I don’t feel Cianfrance quite knew when to pull back the reins. In the end the film felt a little too cocky and indulgent for its own good. While that brought the movie down a bit it certainly didn’t undo the good qualities that we see particularly in the first two acts.

VERDICT – 3.5 STARS