My Beginning the End

"The Sopranos" truly is the most ground-breaking television series ever made. Sure, I like "Lost" better, and "Six Feet Under" is a better HBO series even. But as far as creativity and just plain great film-making goes, "The Sopranos" takes the cake. And also...Jamie-Lynn Sigler is freakin' hot! 


I've taken another long break from my movie watching to devour "The Sopranos" on DVD. My friend and soon-to-be former co-worker, Ben, has this ridiculous deluxe box-set of the complete series. I can't get enough. My only worry is that I won't be able to polish this thing off by the end of the week. I'm moving back to East Tennessee just in time for football season, and I can't take this set with me. I'd hate to have to go more than a day without my fix.  


"The Sopranos" is, I've come to understand recently, an American tragedy of beautifully epic proportions. Tony Soprano's life is hard, and, despite the fact that he is most definitely a sociopath, we still root for him to succeed and to live. I don't think there has ever been a more flawed television hero, which is the greatness of this show. He would tell you that he just wants to provide his family with a life of comfort and security. And, like many men, his "work" hands him a level of stress that is hard to handle. Then you have to throw in the fact that his business is entirely illegal and involves murder most regularly. The mafia in pop culture as always been a fascination. And then David Chase hurled a curve-ball that made it seem real, here and now. And James Gandolfini knocked it out of the park.


The sixth and final season of this mob-boss of all things television starts of the with a Bada-Bing of a bang. I'm sure you've all seen it but it is surely new to me. Anyhow, season six starts off with this thing called "Seven Souls" by a group called Material. It is basically just William S. Burroughs reading overtop of this light funk beat. This is a small portion of that reading: 

The ancient Egyptians postulated Seven Souls. Top soul, and the first to leave at the moment of death, is Ren, the Secret Name. This corresponds to my Director. He directs the film of your life from conception to death. The Secret Name is the title of your film. When you die, that's where Ren came in. Second soul, and second one off the sinking ship, is Sekem: Energy, Power, Light. The Director gives the orders, Sekem presses the right buttons. Number three is Khu, the Guardian Angel. He, she, or it is third man out . . .


Number four is Ba, the heart, often treacherous. Number five is Ka, the Double...The Ka, which usually reaches adolescence at the time of bodily death, is the only reliable guide through the Land of the Dead... Number six is Khaibit, the Shadow, Memory, your whole past conditioning from this and other lives. Number seven is Sekhu, the Remains.   


This is heard as we see a montage of the characters (including Meadow herself dancing around in her underwear for her fiance) living life, while Mr. Burroughs is reading about the ancient Egyptian thoughts on death. Upon looking at what this says, I came to understand how perfectly it fits into the brilliance of the creative brains behind this series. People die on "The Sopranos"...all the time. Their lives and deaths are controlled, or "directed" in miniature "films" about the "life" of Don Tony Soprano and his family, friends, and fogies. We see here at the "conception" of the final season that "death" is looming. Since I know how "The Sopranos" ends, it is easy for me to understand, after seeing this particular episode for the first time, just how clever Mr. David Chase and his team of writers were with this show. And that famous last scene and abrupt ending that I know is coming begins to make perfect sense with each episode I watch. A work of fiction can be much like life because its "directors" (gods) are "pressing the right buttons." Worlds are created for our amusement, and they end with a cut to black.

Watch the scene here:

Funny People, Enough Said

I believe that Judd Apatow is capable of great things. He could make one of the best movies ever someday. His latest movie, Funny People, just misses greatness. However, it is one of the best comedies about comedy there has ever been.

Adam Sandler, doing the best acting he's ever done, plays George Simmons, a very rich and famous comedian and movie star. He is also very lonely and is only made more when he finds out he has a terminal illness. The opening scenes of this movie are filmed beautifully. Apatow you can see, with camera great Janusz Kaminski as DP, is starting to gain a little style with this film. I was drawn in immediately to this story and very touched after the first five minutes.

The movie continues its greatness upon introducing Ira Wright (Seth Rogen), an upstart stand-up comedian. He and his roommates (Jason Schwartzman and Jonah Hill) all work in comedy and are all working on finding that big break. Ira meets George Simmons, who kinda likes his stuff. He takes the younger under his wing as a writer and assistant. And then George and Ira are friends, headliner and opening act. Apart from their age, the two new friends are different. George is selfish, never in love, insensitive, uses his fame to sleep around. Ira is a guy like me and like Judd Apatow (I recently heard him in a Fresh Air interview). He is sensitive and shy around girls. He is afraid to even talk to the cute girl comedian (Aubrey Plaza) from across the street that he likes. Just as he is afraid to try any moves on this groupie George brings home for him after a gig. The differences between these two comics, especially with the ways of women, are at the center of this film and are the greatness of it along with the funniest stand-up comedy bits I've ever heard.

Funny People falters, though, in its third act. George and Ira pay a visit to an old friend from George's past, and, while still a little funny and incredibly meaningful, the plot just slows down way too much. I think Apatow was trying to create a sort-of uncomfortable feeling in both the main characters and the audience, which sort of works and for which I applaud his originality. But, in the end, at nearly two-and-a-half hours, the movie plays just a little too long.

You should decide for yourself though. Don't let the running time deter you. This movie is as funny as the title suggests, is often beautifully touching, and has a heavy load of comedic greatness, and I'm sure I will watch it again and again. In fact, the first ninety minutes is the best movie I've seen this year. Adam Sandler is at the top of his game as an actor in this one, and Seth Rogen and the discussion of Wilco and the struggles he has with this girl immediately connected with me. I've felt this way before. You'll know what I mean. Even though it didn't quite go the distance for me in the end, I can't wait to see what Judd Apatow does next.

***1/2 out of ****

Tom Cruise: A Great Actor No Matter What They Say

Time Magazine came out with a top-ten list of Tommy's best roles in commemoration of his 25 years of super-stardom. I'm gonna give you my own list. A list of great roles from one of my favorite actors. Here is Time's list:

25 Years of Tom Cruise

Risky Businuess, 1983

Top Gun, 1986

Rain Man, 1988

Born on the Fourth of July, 1989

A Few Good Men, 1992

Mission: Impossible, 1996

Jerry Maguire, 1996

Magnolia, 1999

War of the Worlds, 2005

Tropic Thunder, 2008

I'll start by deconstructing this list, which I don't care for too much. However, my list will certainly overlap somewhat. War of the Worlds, while decent, does not give us Cruise's skill. Tropic Thunder featured a different and unexpected Cruise but is not worthy of a list. It's a cameo. I realize that the people from Time were going chronologically, but I don't like that. I'm going by rank of ten best roles...my opinion-style.

First, Tom Cruise has only made one bad movie in my opinion...Cocktail. I just never got into that one. It's too silly-80s for my taste and only highlights his good looks and swagger, which was displayed in a far-better silly-80s blockbuster known as Top Gun. I am lucky enough to have recently re-watched this 1986 Tony Scott extravaganza and, man, does it hold up. It is a blast to watch and is definitely the movie that pushed Cruise into major Hollywood player stature.

Then the man went on to become a real actor. He showed us in Rainman that he could act with the likes of Dustin Hoffman in a great brotherly road movie. He played the paralyzed real-life Vietnam Vet Ron Kovic in Oliver Stone's incredibly dramatic Born on the Fourth of July. And he made these two movies within a two-year span and earned his first Oscar Nomination for the latter and should have won. He has continued to prove his skills on through the 90s and 2000s working with actors like Jack Nicholson in Rob Reiner's A Few Good Men and with directors like Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire, Vanilla Sky), Ron Howard (Far and Away), Michael Mann (Collateral), Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia), and The Stanley Kubrick (Eyes Wide Shut). Say what you will about his utterly stupid Personal Life, but the man can act and he can entertain and he will continue to do so for a long time.

My number one choice for the best Tom Cruise role is to be awarded to Paul Thomas Anderson's 1999 masterpiece Magnolia for which he received his third Oscar Nomination. He plays Frank "T.J" Mackey, the estranged son of a wealthy television executive (Jason Robards), who makes a living as a sleazy motivational speaker and creator of "Seduce and Destroy," a program that produces a step-by-step plan showing men how to get women into bed. He plays it with great seriousness and hilarious profanity. And he steals the show from the incredible ensemble cast including John C. Reilly, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, Julianne Moore, and the late-great Jason Robards. He lays it all on the line in this one and is, at once, the comic-relief and the best dramatic performance during the raining of frogs that is the end of this great film.

Here is my Tom Cruise top ten:

1. Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1999)

In which he sleazily makes you cry.

2. Vanilla Sky (Cameron Crowe, 2001)

In which he is as confused as you.

3. Born on the Fourth of July (Oliver Stone, 1989)

In which he's not just a pretty face.

4. A Few Good Men (Rob Reiner, 1992)

In which he shows Jack he "can handle the truth."

5. Collateral (Michael Mann, 2004)

In which he is truly a villain.

6. Jerry Maguire (Cameron Crowe, 1996)

In which he is down-trodden, "shows you the money," and "completes you."

7. Risky Business (Paul Brickman, 1983)

In which he falls for a hooker and realizes the sometimes you just have to say, "what the fuck."

8. Rainman (Barry Levinson, 1988)

In which he finds out he has an older brother and becomes all the better for it.

9. Minority Report (Steven Spielberg, 2002)

In which he does some action again...Spielberg-style.

10. Top Gun (Tony Scott, 1986)

In which he sings, "You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your li-i-ips..."

A Great Friend, My Sixth Grade Teacher

by Kevin Powers
4/16/09

The world lost a great man today. He was a leader, an educator, a friend. He taught me about Ancient Egypt and provided my first memories of learning about Shakespeare. He was my sixth grade teacher. My mother gave him his haircuts, and he became a great friend to my family. I always stopped in to say, "Hello" when he was at Mom's shop. He always offered kind conversation.

I talked to him on the phone last year. I was having a rough time figuring everything out. I was a month from college graduation. He'd known from talking to my mother that I had been studying to be a teacher. And he, with the will to help and wisdom that only the best teachers possess, called me up and offered his guidance. I feel lucky to have known a man like this.

Because Mr. Ousley was my friend and teacher and that to so many hundreds of others, he will always be with us. He loved being a teacher and was one of the great ones. He smiled every time I saw him, and he brought knowledge, care, and joy with him everywhere he went.

"Slappin' Da Bass!"

April 4, 2009
By Kevin Powers

Paul Rudd and Jason Segel are two of the funniest guys in movies. To put them together is a masterstroke of casting. I love them, man. I want to be friends with them.

I can't begin to describe how happy I am after seeing I Love You, Man. I'm smiling from ear to ear. It's about a guy named Peter, played by Paul Rudd, who is a great guy. He's getting married, you see, to a beautiful girl named Zooey, played by the amazing Rashida Jones. The problem is that he has no guy friends, doesn't really know how to have guy friends, so the hunt begins. He is incredibly awkward, and Mr. Rudd plays this to perfection.

Peter finds Sydney, played by the great Jason Segel. He is the kind of guy who has that devil-may-care attitude that some guys have. He observes, he seeks truth, he's a bit lacking in tact, and it is very funny. And then there's Rush, bass guitar, leprechauns, Lou Ferrigno playing himself, billboards and some of the funniest dialogue I've heard in quite a while. Probably since last year's Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which stars and was written by Mr. Segel himself. To see him and Paul Rudd riffing off of each other is nothing short of spectacular. They employ comic timing that is of epic proportions.

During this movie, I found myself laughing fifteen minutes at a time with maybe two minute breaks in between. I did not stop, and everybody else in there felt the same. It is a GREAT comedy. I loved every minute of it.

See it!
Check out Jason Segel's Fresh Air interview here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102232289

Fifteen Albums

This is one of those famed elitist lists we all love so much. I did it for one of those facebook chain tagging things. Enjoy!

Write down the first 15 albums you can think of that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life or the way you looked at it. They sucked you in and took you over for days, weeks, months, years. These are the albums that you can use to identify time, places, people, emotions. These are the albums that no matter what they were thought of musically shaped your world. When you finish, tag 15 others, including me.


*No order with a sampling of favorite lyrics. All amazing. I cheated with The Beatles. I couldn't help it, all three of those albums changed my life at around the same time.*

Neil Young - After the Gold Rush
- "Sailing hardships through broken harbors out on the waves in the night..."

Badly Drawn Boy - The Hour of Bewilderbeast
- "Skip like a stone on the water..."

The Beatles - Rubber Soul, Revolver, and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
- "I was alone, I took a ride, I didn't know what I would find there..."

The Katies - The Katies
- "On the window in the morning it was cool breeze and Christmas..."

Beck - Sea Change
- "Put your hands on the wheel, let the golden age begin..."

Cake - Comfort Eagle
- "I wanna girl who shines like a diamond, I want a girl who knows what's best..."

Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
- "Said I shot a man named Gray and took his wife to Italy..."

Coldplay - Parachutes
- "I wanna live in a wooden house, where making more friends would be easy..."

The Cure - Disintegration
- "However far away, I will always love you..."

U2 - War
- "I can't believe the news today, I can't close my eyes and make it go away..."

Gillian Welch - Live in Hickory, NC 1997
- "Gonna put myself on a leavin' train and I won't come back again..."

My Morning Jacket - It Still Moves
- "You, you always told me that bars are dark and lonely and talk is often cheap and filled with air..."

Steely Dan - Aja
- "Well it's over now, drink you big black cow and get outta here..."

R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
- "Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah..."

Pearl Jam - Vs.
- "I change by not changing at all, small town predicts my fate..."

- KP 2/23/09

"Yes We Can. Yes We Did." - A Great Day in My America

November 5, 2008

I am a Democrat who voted for Barack Obama, a man who so many of my friends have doubted, have slandered, have been out right mean towards. I write this note in the hope that we can, all of us together, bring this country back to peace and prosperity in such desperate times alongside a great, natural born leader.

John McCain's concession speech moved me to tears last night. John McCain is a strong, dedicated, brilliant senator as well, and he deserves my utmost respect. I admit that at one point years ago I said that I would consider voting for a Republican like John McCain, but he never once sparked that in me through the course of this campaign. Last night, the man straight poured his heart out, finally, gracefully declaring that, "In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, Obama's success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving. This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight. I've always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Senator Obama believes that, too." I applaud John McCain for his selflessness, and his ability to concede in such a beautiful and graceful manner. I only wish that Sen. McCain had given me that feeling sooner. John McCain, a man that could've been President, finally spoke like a President last night. His major downfall was that he didn't inspire that kind of hope the whole time.

Barack Obama was not my initial choice during the Democratic Primaries. However, I sensed in his character and his ability to reach the people, even four years ago during his first U.S. Senate race, that he is the type of leader this country desires and deserves right now. This year marks the second Presidential race that I have been able to vote in, and it is the first time that I have won. I cannot express the joy I felt last night when the announcement was made that a strong, dedicated African-American senator would become the President of the United States. In my home last night, among several of my closest friends, we joined the celebrations. There were high-fives, hugs, laughter, and even tears. I called my baby sister in Jacksonville, Florida, and shared the joy with her. I was ecstatic. My country, after eight years of fear, has made the choice of hope for something better, something different, something bold. And my heart pounded with joy and my eyes filled with tears as I listened to President-Elect Obama speak these heartfelt words so clearly and intensely after running the greatest Presidential campaign in history. The following words prove why this great man got my vote. The following words prove his dedication to unifying this great land that I love.

"In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.

"Let's remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.

"Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.

"As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.

"And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.

"And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.

"To those -- to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.

"That's the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

"This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

"She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons -- because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

"And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America -- the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

"At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

"When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

"When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

"She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can.

"A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.

"And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.

"Yes we can.

"America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

"This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.

"This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.

"Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America!"

- President-Elect Barack Obama
November 5, 2008

I woke up this morning with many of these words returning to my head. I feel good. It is a beautiful, unusually warm Autumn day in Murfreesboro, TN. And I am proud to be alive. And I am proud to be an American today.

The Flag of My Father: A Review of Oliver Stone's W.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Oliver Stone's W. exists in a strange place and time. Here we are, three weeks from election day, and a biopic of a President still in office has been released. An educated man might think that this is some sort of ploy for the left by reinforcing the fact that, dare I say it, the war in Iraq is one of the biggest mistakes our great country has ever made. However, Oliver Stone doesn't push that agenda and his second presidential biopic (following 1995's great Nixon) is not against George W. Bush but is simply the sympathetic story of a tragically-flawed, quintessential "silver spoon" who spent a lot of years figuring out what was right for him, finally found it in God and politics, and transcended his over-bearing father's expectations to become Governor of Texas and the 43rd President of the United States.

The basic set-up of the film is this: George W. Bush (played by Josh Brolin) and the usual suspects circa '02/'03 (Cheney, Rumsfeld, Condy, "Genius boy" Karl Rove, "Brother" George Tenet, and Colin Powell) discuss the plans for invading Iraq. Meanwhile, W's past is exposed chronologically. We see him at Yale drinking Jack through a funnel, then meandering around, drinking, wrecking cars, losing jobs. He meets Laura, falls in love, loses bad for a U.S. House seat in Texas, quits drinking, finds God...All things you've heard or read about the Bush of the '60s and '70s. Then Stone begins to show us what makes W tick through several important relationships.

First, Stone will lead us to believe that W's greatest flaw was that he always wanted to prove his father that he could be better than his younger brother, Jeb, at least in his father's eyes. He is constantly trying to prove himself to H.W. a.k.a. Poppy. Jeb Bush has recently come out and said that this is all "hooey," but it remains unknown whether any of the Bush's have actually seen the film. The second and third important relationships to W come packaged together almost. He meets liberal Laura Welch (played by the beautiful Elizabeth Banks), and they fall in love instantly. She becomes the voice of reason, his conscience, and the first step in his becoming "born again." In a way, it seems to me that Laura single handedly made him a better man, a man actually willing to find God and work his way into his father's footsteps.

Perhaps the most frightening thing about this film is that W is portrayed as a man who had the swagger and the face of a President but not the knowledge or the ability to properly reveal his ideas through words. Stone sneaks in a lot of the famous blunders ("Fool me once...," "Is our children learning?," etc.) We see him, as President, surrounded by decision makers Karl Rove (Toby Jones) and Dick Cheney (Richard Dreyfuss). There is no way to know who said what and when it was said, but it becomes clear that there were many reasons, some good, most bad, for America to invade Iraq. And I was astounded during a scene where Dreyfuss as Cheney straight makes the case that we should invade Iraq because of oil and strategic positioning on Iran. "Empire! Mr. President!" he claims in a subdued manner. I truly believe that Rove and Cheney truly were the men that gave W his war. That war that he believed his father never finished, and that we still fight everyday.

The reason I admire this film is this: the performances across the board are magnificent. Josh Brolin, Richard Dreyfuss, and Jeffrey Wright (as Colin Powell) should all get Oscar nominations. For those of you who think all of Oliver Stone's films are Kennedy Assassination Conspiracy Theories, think again. There is nothing like that in here, and this is coming from a liberal democrat who would never consider voting for George W. Bush for anything. He does seem like a fun guy, and I started to care about him as a man...a guy I would like to have a beer with. You should see this film because it is unusually funny like a bad joke told too soon but is also interesting, fascinating, and kind of sad. It is also a truly American story about a good-ole boy who lived big and had "God on his side."

Note: After the movie there was a woman outside the theater with a sign that read, "'W' is an American Hero - NOT A JOKE." I read this as I drove past then turned around and asked her if she'd seen the movie. She said she'd seen the trailer, and it made him look like a joke. Then she said, "I love the man!" I said she should see the movie before bringing signs out and drove off.

Outside and In the Bedroom

As I sit here at my computer, I can feel the whispers in the next room. Two lovers behind imaginary walls tear at my mind. I can still hear them like a pre-pubescent boy hears something behind his parents bedroom door. What are they doing in there? What are they talking about? Why, after all these years, do I sit here as an adult and still wonder so many things about love and sex and relationships? Why do I feel alone? Doesn't everybody? I think the mere existence of these questions in my head relate directly to the types of movies I enjoy watching. I will talk about a few of these movies--ones that, I believe, contain these types of questions and offer answers.

David Gordon Green, "that poet of the cinema" (according to Roger Ebert), has made four immaculate and highly dramatic movies in the last eight years and one good buddy/action/stoner comedy. I side with Ebert on Green as poet. The man makes beautiful, touching, heartbreaking films that do a great job of uncovering the human motivations that drive relationships and make them fail. David Gordon's Greens fourth film Snow Angels fits right into his already stellar cannon. His camera glides around a small, frozen town. We see the kids at band practice. We see one of our protagonists and his reaction as we hear a gunshot in the distance. We see sunlight glistening through the trees as a Bobcat operator scoops salt to the side of the street, we see a man pumping gas, and then we meet our principle characters, the young man at band practice Arthur (Michael Angarano), his former babysitter Annie (Kate Beckinsale), and her estranged husband Glen (Sam Rockwell). It is "Weeks Earlier."

The most enlightening and beautiful thing about Snow Angels is the way it deals with young love. However, there is a dark, very dark side as well. The film basically tells the story of two relationships--one just beginning, one very far gone. Annie and Glen were high school sweethearts who fell victim to small town life like so many others. Glen began drinking, they probably started fighting, she kicked him out, and he keeps trying to come back to being husband and father for real. We know that he never can and so does Annie, but Glen keeps trying. She is beautiful albeit worn down. He is a drunk and has tried to commit suicide, but he is getting better. Theirs is the very far gone relationship. When we meet Glen, he is going to spend the day with his daughter, Tara. Annie is going to sleep with Nate (Nicky Katt) at a local motel. There is a tragedy that arises in the midst of this triangle, which only adds to the difficulty. And it is beautifully and heartfelt the way it is exposed to us, but this part of the story is not what I want to get into. I'm not merely reviewing this film. I want to talk about a specific aspect of it and how this aspect relates to me. And how I became happy and satisfied watching a very somber film. 

Now for the enlightening and beautiful. While Annie and Glen's tragedy plays out, we get to see through the eyes of Arthur Parkinson (16 or 17 years old). Arthur is fairly quiet but a normal kid. His parents (Griffin Dunne and Jeanetta Arnette) are going through a rough split, but he seems to be dealing with it. Meanwhile, Arthur has caught the eye of a cute, spectacled new transfer student named Lila (Olivia Thirlby, Ellen Page's best friend in Juno). The scenes between these two young actors provide the best example of acting/writing/directing as a whole in recent memory. There probably hasn't been a better story of young love since Green's second film All the Real Girls, which is a beautiful film on a whole different level. What is great about Green's writing and directing here and previously is his seeming love of getting inside his characters heads and in their lives, their homes, their bedrooms. In fact, I was reminded while watching Snow Angels of Todd Field's magnificent 2001 film In the Bedroom. Those questions I asked early are at least hinted at or tried out in films like this, and this is the first time since seeing Say Anything... that I felt so happy seeing a teenage relationship develop onscreen. So many movies mythify and make young love seem so hokey.  We all know it is not. Take this exchange between Arthur and Lila at about the midpoint of Green's movie:

Lila writes "Hey You!" on Arthur's hand. She takes her glasses off.

Lila: I think I look weird without my glass. You know what else I think? I think I like you. 

Arthur half-smiles. You can see the happiness.

Lila: ...And I think you like me too.

Arthur: Oh! (sarcastically)

Lila: At least I want you to like me because when you smile i think it's attractive.

What follows is perfect and serene and reminds you of that time in your life. Your first experiences with the opposite sex, maybe even love. Their relationship is heightened in a later bedroom scene where the young couple experience oral sex with each other, and it is in such a realistic and beautiful and non-graphic way it's no wonder nobody saw this film. I, for someone who is currently having a helluva time with life and love and romance and relationships, am lucky to have experienced something like Arthur and Lila have going on when I was that age. I leave you to decide for yourself when you see this film. 

Most people have never heard of this film. It was actually made in 2006 but couldn't find distribution until late 2007/early 2008. It serves as another example of the flawed Hollywood system of producing crap for the masses and hiding the gold. I am one who has always been a seeker. Show me love, all sides of it, and give me truth. 

  

Southern Love Story

So I recommended a movie that I love to girl I'm friends with. We got into a movie discussion through Facebook, and this was her response:

"I saw All the Real Girls last weekend. Hated that too! I didn't like that the opening just jumped right into their relationship like that. And when it came time for him to be portrayed as a player guy, I already liked him and couldn't see that in his character at all. But I thought Zooey Deschanel (?) did a great job. I always like her."

My reply:

As for All the Real Girls...it is a masterpiece. If I had to make a list of the top ten films since 2000, this film would be 1 or 2. As for your first complaint ("the opening just jumped right into their relationship..."), I think this could possibly be a reference to films of the 70s by directors like Ingmar Bergman (Scenes from a Marriage), Woody Allen (Annie Hall and Manhattan), and John Cassavettes (Faces and A Woman Under the Influence), in which relationships are dissected in not always a linear fashion. It is no surprise that All the Real Girls just happened to be produced by long-time Woody Allen producer Jean Doumanian. I honestly think that having that sweet introduction scene strengthens the characters. The director, David Gordon Green, is more interested in images than straight-forward narration. The first scene and the scene in the bowling alley where the two hold each other, talk, and then Paul dances with happiness are meant to mirror each other, and both scenes are filmed with no camera movement. Green just watches them communicate quietly with mostly body language. The sign of a born film director.

It is discussed in great length early on in the film that Paul is a ladies' man. This is seen in the character of the older brother when he so strongly objects to the relationship. The thing that should be understood about Paul is that he inhabits a small, Southern town very similar to the one I grew up in (All the Real Girls is set and was filmed near Asheville, NC, which is about 1 1/2 hours from my hometown). That being said, it is not hard to be a ladies' man in such a small town, and the point is not that he IS a player, but once WAS because of small town boredom. And it becomes obvious that falling in love with Noel changed his life and made him regret how he treated the previous girls.

I identify with All the Real Girls because (1) it's a Southern film about the South and Southerners, (2) it does that more accurately than any movie I have seen, (3) Paul's mother, played excellently by Patricia Clarkson, works as a clown for parties (my mother used to do that too), (4) it is about true love and how we (young men) idealize women and love (with Noel it becomes more than just sex), and (5) it has the most beautiful closing lines and scenery of just about any movie I've seen, which is as follows:

Paul and his dog sit by the river, and we see images of the Appalachian landscape, Paul, his truck, and the dog. And then Paul gives the dog a pep talk about swimming: "...I mean, if there's times in the world when it's time to take a chance, it's time right now to take a chance. What's this? Water. Get in it. It's just water. Listen, brother. This river goes two ways. That way, and THAT way. You know what I'm sayin'? It's like a puzzle with pans, if you think about it."

That was written earlier. Today, I would like to give any readers of this a strong encouragement to see ALL of David Gordon Green's films, especially All the Real Girls.  It is one of the best love stories I have seen in any film.