Counterfeit Casting: Stanley Kubrick

Let's try a director this time. I'm surprised no one has thought that this would be a good biopic. Who could play the perfectionist genius that was Stanley Kubrick?

CANDIDATE #1: Michael Shannon

YES
Shannon has always grabbed the viewer's attention when he's on screen. Kubrick had the same effect when his name showed up during the opening credits. Plus, Shannon's quite experienced at playing the freethinker, which is what Kubrick was.
NO
I can't think of anything.

CANDIDATE #2: Paul Giamatti

YES
Giamatti's been slowly rising among the ranks of the best of the best. Perhaps a role like this would give him a boost?
NO
I'm not sure if Giamatti can play someone as tyrannical as Kubrick.

CANDIDATE #3: Robert Downey, Jr.

YES
Downey has already portrayed a prominent director before in Chaplin. Could you imagine if he played the mad genius director? I'd love to see it happen.
NO
That being said, however, I can't entirely see him right for the role. Like Giamatti, I'm not sure if Downey can play such a figure as Kubrick.

Who would cast as Stanley Kubrick? (And, yes, I'm aware that Stanley Tucci played him before.)

Ever happen to you?

I've been stuck for some time now and I cannot STAND IT. I guess that's what happens when you've been blogging for almost two years and hit a brick wall hard.

This post aside, I've had writer's block affect me. Hard. I can't think of anything to write for a post AND I've stalled on my screenplay.

Somebody give me a freakin' idea!

Open Thread

What's on your mind?

New Stage in Life

So today I got college orientation (early, I know) and my current state of mind is anxious. Basically because it's an out of state college and I don't know anybody there. Hopefully I'll get along with other arriving freshmen.

Anyway, I'll be out of town (and away from my computer) for today and most of tomorrow. I just want to ask college students/graduates this: what are some pointers for any freshman?

Peeping Tom

In 1960, two movies with themes of voyeurism and eroticism were released: Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and Michael Powell's Peeping Tom. The results were different; Psycho advanced Hitchcock's career while Peeping Tom destroyed Powell's.

Both movies have a similar lead character: a young man, insecure because of the controlling nature of a now deceased parent, murders as a means of coping with life. Really freaky stuff.

The similarities between Psycho and Peeping Tom end when discussing the murders. The murders in Psycho are bloody but subdued. Those in Peeping Tom are bound to spook you since they're shown through the killer's eyes. That, and a heightened sense of perversion for what happens after the murders.

Oh man, Peeping Tom is really freaky. Definitely not for the easily spooked. It's really for those who weren't scared by Psycho. Am I one of those people? Nuh uh, but I was very spooked by Peeping Tom.

My Rating: *****

New York Passes Same-Sex Marriage Bill

Just taking a break from movies and books today to cover a historic event that happened last night. My home state of New York has legalized same-sex marriage. Thank you, Andrew Cuomo for passing this bill. Now we need the remaining forty-four states to legalize it.

Johnny Got His Gun

Dalton Trumbo is one of Hollywood's most famous screenwriters. Even with his infamy  as part of the Hollywood Ten, his writing always captivated an audience.

His novel Johnny Got His Gun has to be one of the most harrowing things I've read. It's told in the third person, but it's from the point of view of Joe Bonham, a soldier who lost his limbs and face in battle from a bomb. It's very claustrophobic reading.

The story interchanges from Joe's life before getting shipped off and Joe lying in the hospital. It's sad to see him go from a charmed life to being a prisoner in his own body, unable to express what he's feeling.

Johnny Got His Gun is one of those books where no matter how many times you try to stop reading it, you can never put it down. Seriously, it's that good. Trumbo's writing packs a wallop, but it also makes Johnny Got His Gun as something I don't want to read for a very long time. Kind of the same effect Requiem for a Dream had when I watched it.

My Rating: *****

What's going on?

So earlier today I graduated from high school. (Whoo-hoo!) As I write this, I feel like I might fall asleep on the keyboard. And this coming Monday, I got orientation for college. Whew, who thought being a senior would be tough?

Anyway, reviews might be in short supply for the next week or so. I will, however, try to keep the site updated daily.

Gods and Monsters

It's not that often we get a glimpse into a director's personal life on the silver screen. Sure, they might be mentioned in memoirs, but do you see it acted out?

The two veteran stars of Gods and Monsters are Ian McKellen and Lynn Redgrave, both nominated for Oscars. They provide certain quirks to the movie's allure. McKellen is flamboyant while Redgrave is reserved. Both are polar opposites yet they have wonderful chemistry together on screen.

Brendan Fraser usually gets a bad rap since most of the movies he's in could have been written by a five-year-old. But he really impressed me in Gods and Monsters. He clearly shows that he can act. Personally, I think Fraser's one of those names working in Hollywood who needs a good script tossed to him every once in a while.

Gods and Monsters is such a wonderful movie. It shows a simplicity within the emotions and dialogue. It may rely on the subject of homosexuality most of the time, but that aside it's a marvelous film.

My Rating: *****

Letters from Iwo Jima

In the year of 2006, Clint Eastwood made two movies about the Battle of Iwo Jima. The first movie was Flags of Our Fathers, which was told from the American viewpoint. The second movie was Letters from Iwo Jima, which was told from the Japanese viewpoint.

On their own, both movies are excellent. In comparison though, it's safe to say Letters from Iwo Jima is the better of the two. It doesn't rely on the war depicted. It relies on the soldiers' personalities, much in the same manner as The Thin Red Line.

I give Eastwood points for having Japanese as the main language of Letters of Iwo Jima. It would've been awkward had the whole thing been in English. (I say this as I side eye Spielberg in the case of Schindler's List.)

Letters from Iwo Jima is a phenomenal movie. Gone are the images of pure bloodshed in every frame. Instead is a marvelous character study of soldiers in the throes of battle. I love it.

My Rating: *****