The Essentials: Casablanca

Title: Casablanca
Run Time: 102 minutes
Release Date: November 26th 1942 (premiere), January 23rd 1943 (general release)
Director: Michael Curtiz
Writer(s): Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch, and Casey Robinson (uncredited)
Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, AND Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, AND Dooley Wilson as 'Sam'

"Seeing the film over and over again, year after year, I find it never grows over-familiar. It plays like a favorite musical album; the more I know it, the more I like it. The black-and-white cinematography has not aged as color would. The dialogue is so spare and cynical it has not grown old-fashioned. Much of the emotional effect of Casablanca is achieved by indirection; as we leave the theater, we are absolutely convinced that the only thing keeping the world from going crazy is that the problems of three little people do after all amount to more than a hill of beans."
~ Roger Ebert

Three Reviews - Side Effects, Spring Breakers, and The Place Beyond the Pines

Hey, it’s been a while.

Last time we checked in, the Oscars had just blown past us, and I figured after a couple of months I’d check in. Q1 is, as a rule, something of a dead zone for cinema, so I haven’t seen many movies, but I don’t feel worse off for it. In fact, as of mid-April I’ve only seen three in theaters. I have some opinions on them, naturally. Read on after the jump.

The Essentials: Lawrence of Arabia

Title: Lawrence of Arabia
Run Time: 216 minutes (228 director's cut)
Release Date: December 16th, 1962
Director: David Lean
Writer: Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson
Stars: Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, José Ferrer, Anthony Quayle, Claude Rains, Arthur Kennedy, AND Omar Sharif as 'Ali' AND introducing Peter O'Toole as 'LAWRENCE'

I would be remiss if I did not allow my first voyage into exploring essential film to be the film that is in the name of the blog, and there is a reason for that.

"There was no other director like David Lean. His ability draw you into the intimate portraits of his characters, of people like T. E. Lawrence, was remarkable. Lawrence of Arabia is the definitive epic, unrivaled in its capacity to combine pageantry and intimacy, and is the perfect example of the gift that only Lean had. He was able to awe you with spectacle and at the same time move you with the poignancy of a small, personal struggle. Still to this day, the film is one of the primary influences on both my career and my interpretation of the human condition. It inspires me just as much now as it did when I first saw it in 1962."
~ Steven Spielberg

"When I saw Lawrence of Arabia for the first time - 1962, Manhattan, the Criterion - I remember the lights going down, the opening 70mm shots from the point of view of a speeding motorcycle, and the powerful sensation that I was about to experience something completely new in cinema. David Lean and Robert Bolt took the epic form and gave it completely new life - in essence, this was the first interior epic, in which every monumentally scaled vision corresponded to the inner world of a hugely ambitious and complex man. You're looking at the landscape of the desert, as you've never seen it before, but you're also entering the landscape of a grand spirit, whose flaws were as vast as his accomplishments and his dreams"
~ Martin Scorsese

Reinvigorating The Blog

Dear friends,

It has been a while since Andrew and myself have been active in the blogging, and we did not start extremely strong, with both of us getting very busy with school. However, we hope to change that by using our time off from school this summer to get started on really working on the blog. The period of time between September-December is considered the "Oscar baiting season," and the first half of the year is usually a bit of a dead zone for good film to come out, so there is little for us to do. However, we hope to take this summer as an opportunity to being your guide to summer movie going, looking forward to the year's end releases, and covering film history.

We hope to begin a few specific, recurring columns in addition to reviewing specific films. One is very simply a director showcase, where we will explore the works of a director that has come to help shape film history. I am particularly interested in delving into film history, and exploring a lot of aspects of film that many people overlook. It is my intention to begin a column entitled "FILM: Fundamental Instruments for Loving Movies," where we will explore some classic elements, techniques, and directors that have shaped the film world today as a means of growing and learning together. Another new column that I am especially excited about is the "Essentials" collection, inspired by the weekly showcase on TCM of the same name. There we will recommend a classic and highly influential film that is essential for any great lover of film to see, or anyone who enjoys a great movie. We hope to be very active with our writing this summer, and we look forward to you coming along with us for the ride.

I would like to sign off with a small recognition of the recent death of Roger Ebert. Andrew and I are both extremely sad to see such an icon and giant pass, and know that he will be missed. He pioneered film criticism for the modern age of film, and I can say that he inspired me to write, discuss, and love film. He is a great hero to both of us, and his death leaves a gaping death in the world of film criticism. We hope for the best for his family, and that he and Gene Siskel are enjoying a great film, should heaven exist.

Andrew and I look forward to a great summer, and we hope to see you at the movies.

The 2013 Gutty Awards - RESULTS

Oh, hey, you guys. Been a while since the last blog post, but it's ~*Oscar Weekend*~ so it's time to fix that.

Way back last month, I posted my picks for what was the best of the best of 2012. A while has passed since then (enough for me to consider changing one or two of my nominations), but now is the time to reveal the films, performances, and craftspeople who I think did the most to contribute to this wonderful year.

Plus, I can't let the Oscars tell you what's what before I get my word in. Naturally.

Cronenberg, Part 1

David Cronenberg occupies a weird space in the world of cinema. He's undeniably a unqiue, original auteur, but despite being well-known and generally respected, his films don't seem to attract a remarkable amount of respect themselves. Everyone knows of Cronenberg, but so far as his films go, they may have only heard of A History of Violence or Eastern Promises, his two most commercially successful. Everything else flies kind of under the radar, all cult-film like. As far as my own understanding goes, while I had heard of more of his films, I had only ever seen History and Promises. I could tell you he was this sort of creepy, gross filmmaker, but if you asked me what themes he liked to talk about, or to go more in-depth about his style, I couldn't tell you. I decided to remedy this. This is the first in a four-or-five-part series on David Cronenberg I'm writing as I watch his films. I want to know more about this man called "the most audacious and challenging narrative director in the English-speaking world."*

2012: The Year In Review

At one point in time, I dubbed 2012 "the best year for film in history." Now, I do have a bit of a tendency to be hyperbolic, and my colleague is often very quick to calm me down. We have conversed about subjects like this dozens of times, and I have come under the impression that there is actually nothing that we agree on. Of course, I am sure he would disagree with that. However, I digress. Was 2012 the best year in film history? Is there such a thing? Some will define how good a year is by how high its highs are, and others will define it by the sum of the highs.

On Some Recent Controversies

My colleague Nick Bergeman just wrote about the hullabaloo surrounding Django Unchained and its writer-director's continued feud with Spike Lee as a result. Django was really only one of several major cinematic controversies to come to the forefront this year, all based around criticisms with varying degrees of validity. Check after the jump for my thoughts (mild spoilers follow).

Concerning Quentin Tarantino's Latest Controversy

Many of you may be aware of the recent controversy of Spike Lee's comments directed at Tarantino, saying that he would not go to see the movie because he believed that it would be disrespectful to his ancestors. Spike has frequently been critical of Tarantino's use of the "n word," and has spoken out against Tarantino's undertaking of projects that Spike finds disrespectful to African-Americans. Tarantino has responded strongly to the comments, firing back at Spike, calling him racist and escalating their feud. Recently, an African-American friend of mine on Facebook posted a bit about this, and I felt moved to write him a letter about my thoughts on the matter. I have included below an excerpt from my letter with some of my thoughts on the subject. Know that I mean no disrespect to anyone in the comments that I make, and if I offend you, I hope you understand that I do not mean to. Feel free to comment and discuss.

The 2013 Bergy Awards

About four months ago, I told Andrew that I thought this would be the best year in film history. Well, now that we have come to the end of the year and awards season is beginning to wind down, I thought I should reflect about which films meant a lot to me, which ones I liked, and which ones I thought deserved special recognition. Well, for some odd reason, people seem to care what I think, and I have come to the understanding that I should share my thoughts with others. Without further ado, I present the 2013 Bergy Awards, honoring the best in film, not my favorite, but what I believe is the best.

Best Picture

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Silver Linings Playbook

Skyfall

Just off the list:
Argo

The 2013 Gutty Awards

We've come to the end of a great year for cinema. We've seen great films by old masters and hopeful newcomers alike, films that have made us laugh, cry, or both. We've gone everywhere from the Bathtub to revolutionary France to the middle of the Pacific, we've traversed the full spectrum of human emotion. These films, nineteen nominated in all for twelve categories, demonstrate the best of what this year had to offer. Though many films that I enjoyed are not mentioned here (Killer Joe, End of Watch, and The Avengers, to name a few), they are no less a part of what contributed to 2012 being one of the best years in film of the past decade.

Now, here are the nominees for the 2013 Gutty Awards:

Best Picture

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Cloud Atlas
The Master

Moonrise Kingdom

Lincoln

Our Name and Purpose Explained

What many of you who have been kind enough to visit this page may be wondering is what exactly our name is meant to suggest about our page. We have decided not to go the typical route of naming our blog after something that "makes sense" like "BlogBuster." We approached it from a simple perspective where we wanted to combine two things that we like and appreciate a lot. I am a very huge fan of the classic 1962 desert epic Lawrence of Arabia, which has become a cornerstone of our relationship, and our discussion about film. I believe it to be the greatest film made thus far, and I have watched it several times, and my partner happens to enjoy teasing me about it. He also happens to be a very huge fan of actress Jennifer Lawrence (which I am as well), and we one say noticed the portmanteau created with my favorite film, and Andrew's favorite actress. Henceforth, we created Jennifer Lawrence of Arabia, which represents symbolically some aspects that we love about film.
Now that you know our name, and what it means to us, it may make sense to us to explain what we hope to do with this blog. We hope to discuss film in many ways, aspects, and methods. We will not only write reviews of current movies, but we hope to review older movies, discuss award chances, and different aspects of film. We are both great lovers of film, and we hope to share that love with as wide an audience as we can. I hope that you can enjoy our ramblings, and that you find something to enjoy on our blog. We welcome feedback, as long as it is civil, and we encourage discourse about film. Andrew and I look forward to this journey. As the great T. E. Lawrence said, "Nothing is written," that is, until we write it.