The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

[Editor's Note: This is an old blog post from last Summer. For some reason, it was moved to the present time as if it were new but the post itself is unchanged... other than this note.]

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

It's pretty safe to say that the Western, as a genre, is alive and vital once again. With modern movies like "True Grit", "Red Dead Redemption" in the video game realm and on TV, the series "Deadwood", which I continue to rave about even though no one listens, the genre is, in a word, "back".

2007 ALONE saw the release of "No Country for Old Men", "3:10 to Yuma" and "There Will Be Blood". That's impressive. With that many quality Westerns in the same year, it wasn't surprising that the Brad Pitt vehicle "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" got overlooked. In terms of public opinion and critical acclaim it was barely a blip on the movie radar. For these reasons - and as dangerous and slippery as such statements are - it may be the most underrated movie of all-time.

The movie tells the story of the last days of the outlaw bank/train robber Jesse James and his gang. After more than a decade of running from the law, Jesse's brother Frank James decides to go on one last big score and retire. With various gang members being killed, arrested or leaving over the years, Jesse increasingly has to rely on untested, unknown recruits and he's becoming increasingly paranoid. With a hefty ransom on his head, a U.S. Marshall could be anywhere, any ally could be planning to shoot him in the back and any job could go wrong.

This movie has everything I could possibly want in a Western... or really everything I'd want in ANY movie for that matter. When you're in the old west and everyone is carrying a gun on their hip and you're surrounded by outlaws, any moment could mean life or death. This movie has a life, a brutality and a tension that's hard to match. This movie is dark, it's tense, it's brutal and violent and sepia-toned and beautiful. And it's dark. The only criticism I can lob at it is that I can admit that Brad Pitt is essentially too good looking and, as a period drama, it can take you out of the reality of the movie. But such moments are brief.

In fact, all the acting in the movie is excellent. Brad Pitt - great as always, Sam Rockwell plays Charley Ford and is good in everything and Casey Affleck is excellent as the Coward Robert Ford. I think this is one of his first roles (I know I'd never heard of him) and he completely embodies the character. There's also a small "cameo" type role from Zooey Deschanel and a tiny cameo from Nick Cave who did the score.

The thing that stood out immediately was the cinematography. The look, style and shots in this movie are, at times, incredible. Certain sections and shots in this movie are some of the best I've ever seen. The direction is top-notch, the sound is great, the music is great and obviously the writing is excellent.

I spend some time on this blog talking about overrated films and why they're sometimes not all that good. But this movie IS good. It's my favorite film of any I've watched in recent memory. It's a reminder that even after all these years, movies can still stress me out. And a movie can still make me afraid of the dark.

9/10.

The Watch Trailer on Conan

Vince Vaughn makes a surprise appearance on Conan to show the trailer to his new film "The Watch".



The thing I'm most excited about is not Vince Vaughn or Ben Stiller or Jonah Hill. The most exciting thing is that Moss from "The IT Crowd" is in a movie with Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller and Jonah Hill. OK, his real name is Richard Ayoade but he's Moss.

Less exciting is the new aspect of the movie that I hadn't heard of before: aliens. A Neighborhood Watch movie is a funny concept... A Neighborhood Watch movie where they fight aliens is just puzzling. Still, I'm looking forward to it.

IMDB 250 7.8 - Warrior (2011)

Warrior (2011)

Tommy and Brendan are brothers. They haven't seen each other for years and they don't want to see each other. When their father's alcoholism finally broke the family apart, Brendan stayed with his dad and Tommy went with the mother. When each one independently decides to compete in mixed martial arts (MMA) fighting, it's only a matter of time before they meet up again.

I hate MMA fighting. It doesn't interest me in the least. Nevertheless, as a basis for a sports movie, one activity is as good as another. And this movie does exactly what it's supposed to: you get the training montages, you feel the suspense of each punch and counter-punch, you feel the roar of the crowd and cheer at the victories. The movie has two protagonists and also does a good job of not playing favorites. So although it's inevitable that they'll meet for a big fight at the end, it isn't obvious who's going to win.

Every fighting movie is going to be compared to "Rocky". It's not right necessarily, it just is. And so I have a small complaint about a specific moment in the film. The movie sets up a fight of the unknown Brendan going against an unstoppable machine from Russia known as Koba. Automatically my mind goes to "Rocky IV" but I'm thinking that's unfair. Then, surprise, Brendan's worrywart wife shows up at the match to cheer him on and provide plenty of concerned/excited reaction shots. Alright, I'll let that slide too. But then Koba makes his entrance and it goes too far. Koba and his whole entourage are decked out in Hammer and Sickle-themed clothing. Come on, the Cold War was two decades ago and that's "Rocky IV"! You're doing "Rocky IV"!

Although this movie is certainly not "great", in the "Top 250" sense, I do want to emphasize that it is good. It has exciting action sequences but, like "Rocky", the sequences are meaningful because we know about, and care for, the characters involved.

7/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 357.

IMDB 250 7.7 - Come and See (1985)

Come and See (1985)

"And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth."

During World War II, a boy in Belarus decides to leave his home and join a Belarusian resistance force. Sitting between Nazi German and the USSR, Belarus is a fierce battleground. He'll grow up quickly as he faces the realities of war.

The first third of the movie feels like a coming of age tale - the main character, a boy of about 14 fights with his mother, plays on the beach and meets a girl. In these scenes, and in some that follow, some of the acting is poor or overwrought and some of the direction seems amateurish. But these scenes will be overshadowed by what's to come.

Based on true events, the movie will descend further and further down into Hell on Earth. It depicts the horrors of war not in the usual sense of bullets, tanks and the heat of battle. Rather, in the sense of soldiers rounding up an entire town, locking them in a barn and setting it on fire. Or the scene of a man begging for his life as he's being dowsed in gasoline. It's the kind of movie that's so brutal in its subject matter and so matter-of-fact in its depiction, that it's difficult to talk about.

I don't know when you'd be in the mood to witness atrocity but it's undeniable that its depiction here is sobering and extremely powerful.

8/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 356.

Stefon Finale

Stefon stops by (for the last time?) to offer tourists some hot spot suggestions:



I was thinking that maybe this segment had jumped the shark. Maybe Hader's laughing at his own jokes more than the audience*. Perhaps. But then you get to a thing like "human R2-D2" and you realize that, like it or not, this is a brand of writing you won't find anywhere else.

* In his defense, certain jokes are hidden from him ahead of time so he ends up hearing them for the first time as he speaks. For better or worse, the whole thing is specifically designed to get him to crack.

IMDB 250 7.6 - Tokyo Story (1953)

Tokyo Story (1953)

A grandmother sits with her grandson and watches him play in the grass. "What are you going to be when you grow up? A doctor like your father? ... By the time you become a doctor, I wonder if I'll still be here."

In 1950's Japan, an elderly couple travel to Tokyo to visit their children and grandchildren. But their children lead busy lives and have little time to talk before the couple must be heading home.

These days, that wouldn't be enough to make a movie. "Tokyo Story" is Japanese, it's black and white, it's from the 50's. It's slow, it's quiet, it's reserved. The "dramatic" things that happen here are things like one of the young children becomes cranky or the dad gets called into work unexpectedly.

But if you can wrap your head around all of the above and see past it, there is beauty in its simplicity. It's extraordinary by being ordinary. The grandparents, the parents, the children, the siblings are all characters we know - we are these characters. And this movie allows us to sit with them and spend time with them and examine and observe.

The grandparents live far away so their time with their families is rare and brief. So what do they spend their time talking about? Train times, the weather, what they'll be eating. If any of these characters says ONCE out of every thousand opportunities, what they really feel, what they're honestly thinking or what any other person means to them, it's a major and dramatic surprise.

Are we any different?

7/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 355.