Top Ten Lists

Yes, it's that time of the year. Time for the Top 10 Lists.

Here's my first list of favorites.

Top 10 Directors & Their Best Flicks
Mike Nichols (The Graduate)
Woody Allen (Manhattan)
Martin Scorsese (Good Fellas)
Coen Brothers (The Big Lebowski)
Ingmar Bergman (Through a Glass Darkly)
Buster Keaton (The General)
David Lynch (Blue Velvet)
Terrence Malik (Days of Heaven)
Quentin Tarentino (Pulp Fiction)
Wes Anderson (Rushmore)

Honorable Mention
Francis Ford Coppola (Apocalypse Now)
Ang Lee (Ice Storm)
Gus Van Sant (Drugstore Cowboy)
Stanley Kubric (Full Metal Jacket)
Alfred Hitchcock (Rear Window)
John Boorman (Excalibur)

Zeigeist: Part 4

2000 - 2008
George W. Bush President

This is the final installment in my series of ruminations on the patterns of paranoia and a growing sense of alienation we can find in the movies of the last 20 years. Not surprisingly, we see more fantasy films, more superheroes and more supernatural happenings. The worse things get, the more we turn to fairy tales (Shrek) and comedy. But for me the most telling shift comes in 2004. Our favorite horror fantasy is Saw. In a world of terrorists, torturers, liars and corrupt politicians, many flock to a movie that portrays the victims’ (our) complete vulnerability to an unreasonable, sick sadist. I wonder if it’s a coincidence that Bush was reelected this year. Sadly, Saw has become a very profitable series (there is even a reality show on TV to find the next big skank/star of the upcoming Saw 6). Let’s hope that the next four years brings us Obama, peace and…. the next Gene Kelly?


Major Events
Ariel Sharon elected
9/11
US strikes Afghanistan
Iraq invasion
Robert Hanson—FBI Russian spy caught
Bush tax cuts
Budget surplus dwindles
Anthrax scare
Bush’s Axis of Evil
Enron scandal/Ken Lay Busted
Dept. of Homeland Security created
Asian tsunami
Abu Grahib
No WMDs
Hurricane Katrina
NSC spying on Americans
Economic meltdown

Popular Films

2001
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Lord of the Rings
Shrek
Monsters, Inc
Rush Hour 2
The Mummy Returns
Pearl Harbor
Ocean’s Eleven
Jurassic Park III
Planet of the Apes

2002
Spider Man
Lord of the Rings 2
Star Wars II
Harry Potter II
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Signs
Austin Powers in Goldmember
Men in Black II
Ice Age
Chicago

2003
Lord of the Rings 3
Finding Nemo
Pirates of the Caribbean
Matrix Reloaded
Bruce Almighty
X2
Elf
Terminator 3
Matrix Revolutions
Cheaper by the Dozen

2004
Shrek 2
Spider Man 2
Passion of the Christ
Meet the Fockers
The Incredibles
Harry Potter
The Day After Tomorrow
Bourne Supremacy
National Treasure
Shark Tale

SAW

2005
Star Wars III
Chronicles of Narnia
Harry Potter
War of the Worlds
King Kong
Wedding Crashers
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Batman Begins
Madagascar
Mr. & Mrs. Smith

2006
Pirates of the Caribbean
Night of Museum
Cars
X-Men: Last Stand
The Da Vinci Code
Superman Returns
Happy Feet
Casino Royale
Ice Age 2
Pursuit of Happyness

2007
Spider Man 3
Shrek 3
Transformers
Pirates of the Carribean
Harry Potter
I Am Legend
Bourne Ultimatum
National Treasure
Alvin and the Chipmunks
300

Zeigeist: Part 3

1992 - 2000
Bill Clinton President

In hindsight, there are some interesting patterns we can chart in the list of major events during this period. With the Rodney King incident, OJ Simpson’s trial, Matthew Shepherd’s murder, and California’s ban on affirmative action, we can see our nation’s xenophobia steadily increasing.

If we consider the incidents of domestic terrorism, with the Unibomber and the Oklahoma City bombing, and the increase in the threats from the middle east (USS Cole and US embassy bombings and Musharaff’s coup), it’s not surprising that the most popular films evolve from a focus on legal dramas and spy adventures to more and more films on threats that are impossible to fight (natural disasters and apocalyptic visions of the future).

We have the Bush, Jr. years to look forward to the full blossoming of our distrust and hatred of "the other" in our fear of immigrants.

Major Events
Rodney King/LA Riots (1992)
Waco (1993)
Combat roles for women in military (1993)
NAFTA ratified (1993)
World Trade Center bombing (1993)
Black Hawk Down in Somalia (1993)
Civil war and genocide in Rwanda (1994)
Aristide returns to Haiti (1994)
Oklahoma City bombing (1995)
Rabin assassinated (1995)
Unibomber arrested (1996)
Olympic bombing in Atlanta (1996)
OJ Simpson trial (1996)
California ban on affirmative action (1997)
Two embassies in Africa bombed (1998)
Northern Ireland Peace (1998)
Matthew Shepherd killed (1998)
NATO bombs Yugoslavia (1999)
Columbine (1999)
WTO protests in Seattle (1999)
Elian Gonzales custody battle (1999)
Musharaff stages coup in Pakistan (1999)


Top Movies

1993
Jurassic Park
Mrs. Doubtfire
The Fuguitive
The Firm
Sleepless in Seattle
Indecent Proposal
In the Line of Fire
The Pelican Brief
Schindler’s List
Cliffhanger

1994
Forrest Gump
True Lies
The Santa Clause
The Flintstones
Dumb & Dumber
Clear and Present Danger
Speed
The Mask
Pulp Fiction
Maverick

1995
Batman Forever
Apollo 13
Toy Story
Pocahantas
Ace Ventura
Casper
Die Hard with a Vengeance
Goldeneye
Crimson Tide
Waterworld

1996
Independence Day
Twister
Mission Impossible
Jerry Maguire
Ransom
101 Dalmatians
The Rock
The Nutty Professor
The Birdcage
A Time to Kill

1997
Titanic
Men in Black
Lost World: Jurassic Park
Liar Liar
Air Force One
As Good as It Gets
Good Will Hunting
My Best Friend’s Wedding
Tomorrow Never Dies
Face/Off

1998
Armageddon
There’s Something About Mary
The Bug’s Life
The Waterboy
Doctor Dolittle
Rush Hour
Deep Impact
Godzilla
Patch Adams

1999
Star Wars: Phantom Menace
The Sixth Sense
Austin Powers
Matrix
Tarzan
Big Daddy
The Mummy
Runaway Bride
Blair Witch Project

2000
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Cast Away
Mission Impossible
Gladiator
What Women Want
The Perfect Storm
Meet the Parents
X-men
Scary Movie
What Lies Beneath

Zeigeist: Part 2

1988 - 1992
George H. W. Bush President

Major Events
US Embassies bombed (1988)
Berlin Wall Falls (1989)
Soviets pull out of Afghanistan (1989)
Gulf War (1991)
Collapse of the Soviet Union

This is a period of time when the Cold War seems to have been won by the U.S. At the same time, Bush switches our focus to the Middle East and Bin Laden starts bombing US targets. Among people my age (those of us who entered high school and grew into political consciousness in the early eighties), there is a sense of relief that what had always seemed to us to be a vaguely trumped up paranoia over the big bad Soviets is finally over. But the Cold War true believers are still in charge, so we have a vague sense of foreboding, especially when we are told we have enemies in the Middle East….ahh, the seeds of the War on Terror are sown.

Our movies during this period of time reflect this weird combination of optimism and cynicism. But early in this period, even our tales about taking on terrorists still revolve around understandable motivations, most notably greed. The hero is a cop.

I believe, Silence of the Lambs (1991) is a turning point, reflecting our growing ambivalence about the state of the world. With this film, we are introduced to a new kind of “terrorist”: an envious misogynist who needs to be taken down (by a woman also a cop), with the assistance of the antihero of the film. Hannibal Lecter is a “necessary evil” genius who assists the “right side” only because it amuses him.

And even though our ambivalence about evil vs. good, bad guys vs. good guys increases (as reflected in the most ambivalent heroes of them all—Batman and Terminator 2), we are still trying to assert the power of the honest man of integrity (Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, A Few Good Men). We enter the era of Clinton feeling refreshed and eager to cast off the Cold War generation.

Popular Movies
1988
Rain Man
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Coming to America
Big
Twins
Crocodile Dundee II
Die Hard
Naked Gun
Cocktail
Beetlejuice

1989
Batman
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Lethal Weapon 2
Look Who’s Talking
Honey I Shrunk the Kids
Back to the Future, Part II
Ghostbusters II
Driving Miss Daisy
Parenthood
Dead Poets Society

1990
Home Alone
Ghost
Dances with Wolves
Pretty Woman
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Hunt for Red October
Total Recall
Die Hard 2
Dick Tracy
Kindergarten Cop

1991
Terminator 2
Robin Hood
Silence of the Lambs
City Slickers
Hook
Addams Family
Sleeping with the Enemy
Father of the Bride
Naked Gun 2 ½
Fried Green Tomatoes

1992
Aladdin
Home Alone 2
Batman Returns
Lethal Weapon 3
A Few Good Men
Sister Act
The Bodyguard
Wayne’s World
Basic Instinct
A League of Their Own

Zeigeist Schmeigeist: Our Movies Reveal All

I have often believed that we can chart the zeitgeist by our movies. After looking at the top movies over the last 20 years, I find some common themes and patterns:

• Special people who overcome barriers and prove to be wise (also reflected in stories about children who are oh-so-much wiser than the clueless/incompetent adults around them)
• Fantasy identity themes: adults re-experiencing childhood, becoming wiser in the process
• Strangers in a strange land
• Everyday heroes taking on completely unreasonable terrorists/bad guys
• Supernatural evil tamed (or not)
• Superheroes

In general, these all reflect our feelings of a lack of control, a distrust of the powers that be, and a desire to wrest that control back. Popular movies (top grossing) play out our resentment over our status as victims and our vacillation between believing we can change the world and feeling crushed by amoral forces.

Over the next couple of blogs, I hope to make the case that as our anxiety about the corruption of our country’s leadership (in every aspect of life, including political, spiritual, corporate, media) has increased, our movies have spawned antithetical plotlines: 1) increasingly violent and/or ambivalent visions of good vs. evil and 2) completely asinine escapist pap determined to take our minds off the stench of corruption that surrounds us.

Particularly on reflection of the top 10 movies this week (see below), I can’t help but feel we are more trapped in the American schizoid Protestant worldview than ever.

Top 10 Movies, on October 24, 2008
Max Payne (Ultra-violent tale, based on a video game about a cop turned vigilante with nothing to lose, whose family is killed by drug addicts. To make matters worse, he is framed by an evil corporation. Dilemma: go out with a whimper or a bang? Either way, this situation sucks.)

Beverly Hills Chihuahua (Escapist, guilt-ridden response to our fear/hatred of Mexican immigrants, featuring a dog stand-in for Paris Hiltonesque entitlement.)

Secret Life of Bees (Wise young white girl finds the true meaning of life from older, even wiser black women. Pure fantasy: a world where young women and women of color have the power to make the world right.)

W (This one is just too obvious, isn’t it? If we can’t beat him, we can at least laugh at him.)

Eagle Eye (Two strangers are thrown together in a fight for their lives when an unknown woman threatens them via cell phone. Think we are pissed off about the government’s use of technology to monitor and control us? Duh!)

Body of Lies (Covert CIA Operative takes on terrorists in the middle east. His boss is an ass. Who are the evil-doers again?)

Quarantine (A reporter is trapped in a building of people infected by a mysterious illness that makes them violent. The government abandons her and her crew. The only evidence of the incident is her video. This sounds like an ugly, terrifying vision of the ultimate unknown assailant [mystery disease] and the utter unwillingness/inability of authorities to come to the rescue. In so many ways, we are on our own, folks.)

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (The perennial tale of the nerd getting the right girl because he has a heart of gold--and most importantly he's not gay! Not all young women are vacuous wretches like Paris Hilton or Sarah Palin.)

Sex Drive (The perennial tale of young losers getting high, having sex and throwing all caution to the wind. There are orgies of all kinds—look at Wall Street.)

Nights in Rodanthe (The perennial middle aged female fantasy that hot sex and true love can still be found-- with the same man! Talk about the ultimate escapist fantasy, but at least it keeps our minds off our diminishing 401Ks.)

Indiana Jones 4: Major Bummer

Okay, so we just rented Indiana Jones. It was in a word a "bummer." Sure, it was competent. Harrison Ford is still (potentially) hot. And it was a pleasure watching Karen Allen in action again. But this was a half-assed effort. At first, I couldn't put my finger on it. What was the film lacking? Joy. When I was a junior or senior in high school, the first Indiana Jones movie came out. I saw it three times the first day. And even though I have seen it many times since that first day, I still remember the utter joy I felt during every moment of that movie. This one was a modest effort. I mean, how can you make Shia Labeouf boring? But he was so...uninspired. Cate Blanchett just seemed annoyed, and the Natasha accent was so bad. The final straw for me came with the ending. Can anyone say, Mummy rip off? What a disappointment.

My First Entry

I am hoping to use this blog to reflect on the books I am reading, to praise great flicks, and to rant about the politics of the day. Stay tuned for more.